


Reluctantly in Love

by rach320



Series: Reluctantly in Love [1]
Category: DCU, DCU (Comics), Smallville, Superman (Comics), Superman - All Media Types
Genre: Clois from the very beginning of lois' introduction as it fucking should have been, F/M, Season 4 AU, Season 4 re-write, Smallville AU, okay rant over, please enjoy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-09-15 11:57:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 62,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9234134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rach320/pseuds/rach320
Summary: What if Lois had ended up not going to Met U and had finished her senior year at Smallville High, staying with the Kents and driving Clark insane?





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Lois finds Clark in a cornfield. The rest is history.

Lois rolled her eyes as she talked to the useless operator, silently cursing her luck for getting transferred to not one, but two imbeciles. All she wanted were directions, but apparently those whose jobs were to help her were incapable of it. “K-E-N-T. Kent. It’s a farm. Do they even have addresses?” Groaning further at the pathetic response she received, Lois cradled the phone in her shoulder. “Look, the last super genius told me to turn right on route 31 and now I’m totally lost and surrounded by nothing but corn!”

 

It was at that moment that a bolt of lightening struck the field next to her, causing Lois to scream as her phone went dead. “For fuck’s sake.”She cursed, tossing her now useless phone into the passenger seat and pulling down the driver’s seat visor. Eyeing the pack of cigarettes, she huffed. As if her hand would burn from simply touching it, Lois tentatively grabbed a cigarette, letting it dangle loosely between her fingers. “Okay, if you smoke this, you’re going to spend the rest of the night hating yourself.”

 

Dropping the cigarette, she instead decided to find her pack of nicorette, hoping that the gum would satiate her nicotine cravings. “Where the hell is that damn package?” She grumbled, blowing her bangs out of her face. So distracted by quenching her tobacco cravings in the healthiest way possible, Lois nearly hit the roof of her SUV when a bolt of lighting hit the ground right in front of her.

 

“Shit!” She screamed, her car swerving off the road and into the damned fields of corn that she found herself hating all the more. More lighting struck as Lois closed her eyes, hoping that when she next opened them, this would all be just a dream. Eventually summoning the courage, she opened one eye then the other. Lois cautiously looked out the front wind shield, any irritation she felt about her unlucky dealings with lightening dissipating as she took in the sight in front of her. “Oh my God.” She exclaimed breathlessly.

 

Not thinking, she hurried out of her car, running towards the fires the rapid bolts of lighting had left in the cornfield. As she ran across the singed ground, the sight she saw from her car got clearer and her suspicions were confirmed. In the middle of the mess was a man.

 

Slowly the man stood up, Lois watching carefully as he rose to his full height. “Are you… Are you okay?”

 

“I am fine.” The strange man answered.

 

“What’s your name?” She asked, taking a step closer.

 

“I do not know.”

 

“Look, I need to get you to the hospital.” Lois announced, prepared to take him at force if need be. He had amnesia, how hard could he be to manhandle?

 

“I am fine.”

 

Lois rolled her eyes. He was so clearly not fine. “You’ve just been hit by lighting, you’re stark naked and you don’t remember your own name. You have a fairly loose definition of fine.”

 

The man whipped around to face her and Lois’ eyes went wide. Knowing that the man in front of her was naked and seeing his back was different than seeing the full frontal. A million thoughts coursed through her head, the most prominent being that the man was gorgeous and clearly around her age. ‘Stop it.’ She scolded herself mentally. This man was clearly in need of help and she was ogling him like a piece of meat!

 

“Look at his face…” She mumbled, unable to help herself from looking down at the body of the stark naked man in front of her. Okay, so maybe she really shouldn’t be staring at him in his condition, but he was damn attractive and he didn’t seem to be minding her blatant admiration of him at the moment. “Okay look, I have a blanket in the car. Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”

 

Lois walked away, muttering to herself about her lack of self-control when the mysterious man called out to her, halting her in her tracks. “Wait—Who are you?”

 

She smirked as she turned around. He may not have his memory or any accurate definition of fine, but he was cognisant enough to ask her name. “Lois. Lois Lane.”

 

Kal-El was quiet as he let the woman drive him to the hospital, looking at her curiously as she blathered on about nothing. Her incessant talking annoyed him, but there was something about the woman, this Lois Lane, that intrigued him nevertheless. He followed her blankly as she urged him out of the elevator, outwardly as annoyed with him as he was inwardly about her penchant for meaningless small talk.

 

“Try and keep up.” She groaned, leading him further down the hallway.

 

“Why are we here?” Kal-El queried, keeping the blanket clutched around him.

 

Lois rolled her eyes once again. He noticed that she had a tendency to do that. “To get you checked out.”

 

“I am fine.”

 

She gripped tighter onto his arm. “Yeah, yeah, we’ve been through this. You’ve been struck by lightening and you’re fine. I’m sorry if I don’t believe you.”

 

Deciding that he would hopefully stay put, Lois marched off to an orderly and immediately began to explain her situation, complaining furiously as she was told that she would have to stay here with him. “Look, I did the good samaritan thing. I can’t be responsible for this guy.”

 

“You already are.” The orderly replied. “Now I have to call the deputy for your statement.”

 

Lois’ retort stopped in her mouth as they heard an old lady gasp, the blanket that Kal-El had previously been clutching falling limply down his back as he let it go to examine the statue in front of him. Smirking, Lois tore her gaze from his sculpted backside and looked back at the ornery orderly. “You might want to get him some clothes first.”

 

Eventually they ended up in a hospital room as they waited for a doctor. Lois paced the room as she dug through her purse, looking once again for that damn pack of nicorette. Kal-El eyed her curiously, watching her anxious behaviour. Lois was clearly upset over something, that much he noticed. He stood up to ask her about it, only for her to push him back down onto the bed.

 

“Okay, we need to stay in the room, mister.”

 

Kal-El quirked his head at her. “I am not supposed to be here.”

 

Lois tilted her head at a similar angle to his as she replied. “Yeah? Well, I’m not supposed to either.” Not waiting for a reaction from him, she decided to spill out her whole story to amnesia boy. “I’m supposed to be investigating my cousin, Chloe Sullivan’s, death. Have you heard of her?” Lois looked at him expectantly, not quite sure why she expected a reaction out of him at her cousin’s name. “Of course not. You don’t even know your own name.”

 

“Aha!” She exclaimed as she finally found the pack of nicorette in her purse, taking a few of the pieces of gum and popping them into her mouth. “Nicorette.” She explained as she saw him looking at her. “I’m trying to quit smoking. These get me through the day. It started when I was fifteen, classic rebellion. Daddy said that if he ever caught me smoking he’d kill me, so I started and then couldn’t stop. Now I have a gum addiction.”

 

“You talk a lot.” Kal-El finally voiced as he watched the woman continue to flit around the room.

 

“Yeah, well, I’m not comfortable with uncomfortable silence and you aren’t exactly keeping up your end of the conversation.”

 

Kal-El, while he continued to be amused by the strange woman in front of him, decided that he could return to her after he had completed his quest. After all, he was released from the matrix for the purpose of collecting the stones of knowledge. Standing up, he looked down at Lois in bored amusement as she moved to stand in front of him.

 

“Where are you going?” She asked furiously.

 

“I’m leaving.”

 

“Well, you’re going to have to go through me first.”

 

Kal-El observed her defensive stance before placing his hands on her shoulders. She would not be hard to move at all. Bracing his hands against her shoulders, he carefully picked Lois up and placed her down to the side before stepping through the previously blocked door. 

 

Lois looked after him in shock, her mouth open before quirking into a slight grin at the devious thoughts his obvious strength brought to mind. Shaking her less than holy thoughts out of her head, she chased after him. “Hey!” She called, only to be joined by a redheaded woman who called him Clark.

 

Lunging forward, Lois grabbed a hold of him. Frowning slightly, she watched the redhead have a tearful reunion with amnesia boy.

 

“Who are you?” Kal-El asked.

 

Martha felt her heart breaking. “It’s me. Mom.”

 

Lois gave a half-hearted smile, feeling incredibly sorry for the woman whose own son didn’t recognise her. “Don’t take it personally, he doesn’t even remember his own name.” She paused to shake the woman’s hand. “Lois Lane. I found him lying in a field on route 31.”

 

“Thank you for helping him.”

 

“I guess I’m just a sucker for stray dogs and naked guys.” Lois replied, cringing as she realised how her reply sounded. “That didn’t come out right.”

 

Lois watched as the woman and boy walked out of the hospital, running after them a second to late to catch them as she found out that amnesia boy with the killer physique was the Clark Kent she was looking for. “Well,” she simpered, crossing her arms over her chest. “I guess that I’ll just have to pay him a visit later then, won’t I?”

 

~~~

 

Kneeling in front of the tombstone, Lois sighed. She had had a less then productive visit to both Martha Kent and Lionel Luthor. Martha had clearly been too busy worrying about her son to care and well, Lois didn’t quite know why she had expected Lionel to be helpful. She just wanted to know what had happened to her cousin, seeing as both her father and the government were stonewalling her. So she went to Chloe’s gravestone. Even if she couldn’t get information about the circumstances of her cousin’s death, at least she could finally say a proper goodbye to her.

 

“I have a confession to make. I didn’t go to your funeral. I hate funerals.” Lois sighed running a hand through her hair before fixing her ponytail. “Dad says everybody does but it’s a way of paying tribute to a life well-led.” She felt tears prick her eyes as she said that. Life well-led. Chloe was only seventeen. She shouldn’t have been dead yet. What life had she even begun to live? She was—had been—so young. “I hate myself for being weak.” She laughed at herself, knowing that any onlooker would probably think that she had gone insane. “I just knew that the moment I came here, it would make it real. I promise I’ll find out who did this to you. Even if I have to do it alone.”

 

“You’re not alone.”

 

Lois whipped around at the voice behind her, eyes narrowing as she took in amnesia boy, a.k.a. Clark Kent, standing there with a bouquet of flowers. “A fact you could’ve shared before you were breathing down my neck.” She bit, standing and brushing dirt off of her.

 

“I’m sorry, Lois, I didn’t know you were out here.”

 

He looked sincere as she took a deep breath and faced him, controlling her gut reaction to lash out at him for catching her in such a vulnerable situation. She smirked, turning her embarrassment into his embarrassment. Her eyes roved up and down his clothed body approvingly, watching as he blushed profusely in response. “I’m glad to see we’ve moved beyond the ‘clothing optional’ stage of our relationship.” She paused, letting her eyes drop from his face once more. “Well, kinda.” Lois didn’t bother to hide her delight as her words caused him to turn an even deeper shade of crimson. “I’m surprised you even remember who I am.”

 

Clark walked closer to her, smirking at the fact that he remembered her all too well. It bothered him, actually, how much he remembered her. Kal-El had been very intrigued by her, intrigued enough to momentarily postpone his quest for the stones. He wasn’t about to let her know that though, not when she got under his skin so damn well. “Chloe’s cousin, nicorette addiction, can’t stand uncomfortable silences.” His smirk widened into a grin. “You did talk a lot.”

 

Lois’ mouth cracked into a matching smile. “And you were only too happy to listen.” She brushed his shoulder as she walked past him towards her car. “I guess this means your synapses are all firing again.”

 

“Look,” Clark rushed to apologise, wondering how he was going to explain his odd behaviour. “I can’t explain my actions over the past few days. But Chloe was my best friend. You’re not the only one who misses her.”

 

“I’m just the only one doing something about it.”

 

Clark found himself smirking again as he looked at her. “I get the feeling you like to do things yourself.”

 

She puffed out her chest, propping her hands on her hips as she replied smugly. “My dad raised me to be independent and self-sufficient.”

 

“That would be one way to describe you.” He replied, bemused by her attitude.

 

“You know, the only thing I like about you at the moment is your mom.” She replied, mentally acknowledging that his body was somewhere on the list, not that she’d ever compliment a farm boy from Hicksville. “You can’t possibly be as weird as I think you are with a mom that cool.”

 

He smiled, glancing quickly towards her car. She had obviously spent the night in it. “Look, why don’t you let me help you find out who did this to Chloe? Come on, you can live at our house while you’re in town.” Upon seeing her hesitation and pure stubbornness, Clark rolled his eyes. He wasn't even completely sure why he was offering for her to stay at theirs. Maybe he just wanted to know why Kal-El had been so taken with such an abrasive girl. “It beats living out of your car.”

 

Lois rolled her head from side to side and Clark’s smile widened, knowing that she was about to agree. “Fine. Thanks. But you should know that I don’t pay attention to curfews and I never make my bed. I’ll give you some time alone.” She nodded towards the grave before walking to her car. Before she even had a chance to get inside the vehicle however, Clark’s yell made her whip her head around.

 

“Lois!” He shouted, eyes wild. “Chloe’s still alive.” At her disbelieving glare, Clark sighed before continuing. “I know you find it hard to believe, but trust me. Chloe’s not buried in that grave.”

 

Lois quirked an eyebrow at him. “How do you know that?” She tossed her head back, swearing at whatever higher power was out there before looking back at Clark’s determined face. “Look, I want her back more than anyone, but don’t you think your hunch is a rung on the whole grief ladder?”

 

She watched as Clark visibly shrunk into himself, shoulders heaving. “None of this would’ve happened if I had been there.”

 

“Okay, Commando,” Lois rolled her eyes, “I don’t get you. Half the time, you’re all meek ‘Yes, Ma’ and ‘Yes, Pa,’ and the other half, you’re the most overconfident guy I’ve ever met.”

 

Clark smiled smugly, knocking his shoulder into hers as they walked to her car. “It doesn’t happen to you much, does it?” He asked. “Not being able to peg someone right away.”

 

He pretended to wince as she punched him in his shoulder. “Oh, get over yourself. You are not that complicated.”

 

‘Who the hell is this kid?’ Lois asked herself as she drove him home, stealing glances at him. The way they met, the way he seemed so certain that Chloe was alive… Lois couldn’t peg Clark Kent as one thing and that bothered her. She watched out of her periphery as he occasionally snuck glances at her and knew that he was thinking along similar lines.

 

Lois fought the grin that wanted to work its way onto her face. It looks like they weren’t just going to be investigating Chloe’s death, but also each other.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Kents meet their new houseguest and General Lane makes a visit.

Clark sighed as he let the water run over him. It wasn’t as warm as he would have wanted, but that’s what he got for being a gentleman and letting Lois shower first. The visit to the safe house had been terrifying. First, they saw the remains of the explosion, and Clark could practically see the gears turning in Lois’ head as she wondered how the hell Chloe could have survived an explosion that had levelled the safe house. She was clearly questioning his sanity for maintaining that his best friend was still alive. Then, a chopper showed up and he had to use his powers to help keep them from being caught. The last thing Clark needed right now was the government finding out about him. Granted, that was always the last thing he ever needed, but with the added stress of Chloe’s supposed death and Lionel’s trial, he really didn’t need it. He was about to step out of the shower when he heard the door open, his eyes widening at the implications of the noise.

 

“Nothing like a little north by northwest action to get the blood pumping, huh?” Lois spoke, smirking as she saw the outline of Clark visibly jump when he realised that she was in the bathroom.

 

“You know, we usually take turns in the bathroom.” He replied, peeking out from between the curtains to find Lois combing her hair, wearing a shirt and nothing else. Closing the curtains quickly, he took a deep breath. There was a half-naked girl in his bathroom who happened to have an amazing pair of legs that went on for miles. He could handle this. All he had to do was remind himself how annoying she was, right?

 

Lois snorted. “Oh, don’t start with me, Smallville. You’re the one taking the marathon shower. Besides,” her lips twitched with mirth, already picturing how red Clark would get at her next comment, “my delicate feminine sensibilities weren’t offended the first time I got a glimpse of… Clark Junior.”

 

Clark nearly slipped in the shower at her allusion to their first meeting, hurriedly turning the water off and grabbing a towel to wrap around his waist before exiting the shower. “My parents kind of missed the whole Woodstock phase. Besides, they freaked out the last time they caught me in a co-ed situation.”

 

“Last time?” Lois raised an eyebrow, turning around to look at him as she propped her hands on the sink. She stared at him, watching him blush as she raked her eyes up and down his wet torso. He was so easy to embarrass and it was so fun to do; Especially considering that he was pretty easy on the eyes. “So the eagle scout does have a few secrets in the closet.”

 

He rolled his eyes, already regretting his offer to let her live with them while she was in town. “Just forget it, alright?” His annoyance reached an all-time high, allowing him to properly take in what she was wearing without being completely distracted by her bare legs. “Hey! That’s my shirt!”

 

Lois found herself grinning as she fingered the edge of the flannel shirt. Taking a step closer to him, she waited until his eyes once again dropped to her legs, his eye fixating on where she toyed with the shirt, before speaking. “Oh, this? It’s the only thing I could find that was clean.” She watched as he yanked his eyes back up to her face, glaring at her before trying to step around her. “Hey, let’s keep this morning’s game of chopper tag a secret, okay?”

 

“Right. Because I’m the one who can’t keep my mouth shut.” He finally side-stepped her, one hand keeping his towel firmly in place while the other went to open the door. Now all he had to do was get to his room and he was home free. “Mom!” He exclaimed as he opened the door, quickly pulling it shut so that only his head and a bit of his torso were visible. 

 

Clark was screaming internally. This was just his luck. He thought that his parents would have been at the feed store longer, but apparently the world had it in for him. First the safe house incident, now his mother finding him in the bathroom with a girl. Maybe he could stall and she would leave the towels and she’d never have to know that Lois was in the bathroom too. Yeah, that could work.

 

“Hi!” Martha greeted, pushing the towels towards him, indicating her intentions.

 

“You’re home.” Clark seethed through his teeth, clamping the door tighter in his hand. He wouldn’t be surprised if there were finger indents in it when he removed his grip.

 

He watched as his mother’s brow knitted in confusion at her son’s behaviour, but there was no way that he was going to explain Lois’ presence in the bathroom if he didn’t have to. It looked like he wasn’t going to have a choice however as he felt Lois press against him, hands pushing against his upper back as she poked her head over his shoulder.

 

“Hi, Mrs. Kent!” She greeted cheerily, Clark grimacing as he watched his mother’s face contort with shock.

 

“Downstairs. Now.” She ordered, turning and leaving the towels at the door.

 

Clark sighed as he bent down to pick up the towels before turning around and placing them on the towel rack. “Thanks for that, Lois.”

 

“It’s not like they weren’t going to find out about their new house guest.”

 

“They didn’t have to see us in the bathroom together.”

 

“Come on,” she placated, “we’ll go downstairs and explain that it was totally innocent, and it will all be fine.”

 

~~~

 

Lois and Clark found themselves on the wrong end of a disappointed Jonathan Kent. His arms were crossed as he stared at the two teenagers, Martha having clearly filled her husband in on the compromising situation that she had found them in. Lois looked back and forth between Jonathan and Clark, not understanding why exactly the bathroom situation was as big of a deal as it was. Yes, it was a bit suggestive, but their son was a senior in high school. Did they assume that he didn’t notice the opposite sex? 

 

“Look,” she spoke up, breaking the silence, “I don’t understand what the big deal is here. We just took a shower.”

 

Clark’s eyes bugged out of his head at her words. “Showers!” He clarified, stressing the pluralisation of the word. “We took separate showers.”

 

“At noon?” Martha queried, eyebrows raised.

 

“We were just—“ Lois started to lie, only to be cut off by Clark.

 

“We went to Chloe’s safe house.” He explained. “These guys showed up and chased us into a field and there was all this dirt.”

 

“Clark, that’s a federal crime scene.” Jonathan scolded. “And the last thing that we want is for you two kids to get involved with the FBI.”

 

Lois watched the interaction between father and son carefully. Something telling her that there was more to the story than just Jonathan being a concerned father. “Whoever it was,” she spoke, hoping to ease the tension, “we don’t need to worry because their chopper is face first in the middle of the field.” Her words had the opposite effect however, the elder Kents turning their full attention towards their son. Something weird was going on here. “Okay, your non-verbals are killing me and this seems like it’s a family matter, so… I’m just going to get out of the way.”

 

Turning and walking out of the room, she mouthed ‘way to go’ at Clark, rolling her eyes at how the farm boy just had to tell his parents the truth.

 

Jonathan waited until Lois was out of the room before addressing Clark. “Please tell me that you did not crash that helicopter.”

 

~~~

 

Lois snuck out early the next morning, sneaking out of the farmhouse to go to the cemetery once again. On the bright side, she had gotten to see Clark’s shirtless back as he slept on the couch, but that was besides the point. Lois wiped the dirt on her hands onto her jeans as she stood waist deep in Chloe’s grave. What had compelled her to confirm the farm boy’s suspicion that her cousin wasn’t in her grave was beyond her. “Alright Chloe, you better not be in there or this is going to get really ugly.” Carefully, Lois pried open the coffin, breathing a sigh of relief when it turned out to be empty. “Oh, thank God he was right.”

 

“Where’s Chloe Sullivan?”

 

At the sound of another voice, Lois whipped her head around. “Who the hell are you?”

 

“You’d better tell me where she is.”

 

“What? The posse couldn’t get to me the first time, so the boss sent you? You can both kiss my ass.” Lois watched in horror as the man’s arms turned into metal. She immediately crawled out of the grave, prepared to fight back when the man seized before disappearing.

 

“Are you okay?” A girl asked, tucking her taser into her purse before helping Lois up.

 

“Where the hell did he go?” Lois asked. “Medieval psychopath.”

 

“I guess you’d have to be in order to dig up a grave in the middle of the day.”

 

“Actually that was me. It’s my cousin’s grave.” Lois grinned, offering her hand. “Lois Lane.”

 

“Lana Lang.” The girl smiled, shaking her hand. “Come on, I’ll give you a ride.”

 

Lois listened as Lana talked about her summer in Paris on the drive back to the Kent farm. The girl was nice enough, especially considering that she had saved Lois during her first encounter with a meteor freak, but something about the brunette rubbed her the wrong way. She acted like a naive, wholesome small town girl, but Lois had an inkling that Lana was anything but. And Lois was good at reading people; She wasn’t an army brat for nothing.

 

They pulled into the Kent farm, Lois jumping out of the car and walking towards where Clark was fixing the tractor. His brow furrowed as he looked at her dirty clothes and the shovel in her hands, clearly wondering where she had snuck off to that morning. His mouth smirked as he thought of a retort, his face falling as he realised that he and Lois weren’t alone.

 

“Lana.” Clark gulped. “You’re back.”

 

“Hi, Clark.” Lana greeted shyly.

 

Lois looked between them curiously as they conversed. She interrupted with her own observations occasionally, watching as a myriad of emotions flickered across Clark’s face too quickly for her to interpret when she mentioned that Lana had had a summer fling, Lana immediately becoming apologetic. This was another piece of the puzzle to add to the mystery that was Clark Kent.

 

“Really?” Lois asked. “You two?”

 

“We never…” Clark stuttered.

 

“Not really.” Lana interrupted.

 

“…had a thing.” Clark finished, shoving his hands in his pockets.

 

“It’s complicated.” Lana explained.

 

Lois put her hands in the air. “A complicated thing. Never mind.”

 

She waited until Lana had left the farm before speaking again, looking at Clark out of the corner of her eyes. “The awkward tension’s just getting started.” She chuckled. “I really crashed and burned on that one.”

 

Clark had seemingly recovered from the shock of seeing Lana as he bit back at Lois, falling into what had now become their routine. “Must be a daily ritual for you.”

 

Lois smirked. “Only when I’m barreling into a train wreck.”

 

They ended up in the loft after standing awkwardly for a few minutes outside the barn, Lois pacing as she got Clark fully caught up on the mornings events and her suspicion about LuthorCorp. She stopped pacing when she realised that her companion hadn’t even as much as nodded in the time she had been talking, bending down to look at him in the face. “Clark? Clark?” She asked, Clark jolting back to reality as she said his name. “Wow, she didn’t take any prisoners, did she?”

 

“Look, you’re really not the person I want to talk to about this.” Clark sighed, running his hands through his hair.

 

Lois plopped down next to him on the couch. “Suit yourself.”

 

“It’s just…” He sighed again, shoulders heaving as he exhaled. “I knew she’d be dating other people.”

 

“But?” She prompted.

 

“I just don’t understand how you could feel like you know someone so completely, like you know everything about them, and then just all of a sudden…”

 

“You don’t even know what continent they’re on?”

 

Clark snapped, yanking his head to look at her for the first time in the conversation. “Do you always have to finish people’s thoughts?”

 

Lois grinned, glad that she could get Clark to literally snap out of his mood. He may have been off limits from the moment she discovered who he was, being the boy that her cousin had a massive crush on, especially considering that he still had to work through a lot of things regarding Lana, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t be there for him in her own unique way. “Well, am I right?” She asked.

 

His sarcastic reply was drowned out by the sound of a helicopter, bright lights shining into the barn and making Lois shield her eyes. She swore under her breath, grabbing onto Clark’s hand as he stood petrified in place. “Come on! We gotta go!” Lois turned, managing to drag Clark a few feet before she came face to face with a stout man in fatigues. “Hi, Daddy.” She greeted, accepting that they were caught.

 

She felt Clark’s eyes as he turned to stare at her. “Daddy?” He questioned, incredulous.

 

Clark retreated to the house as he heard Lois and her father duke it out, his hearing catching every word of the conversion. Lois’ father was stubborn, but it was clear that his daughter was cut from the same cloth. The General wanted Lois to stay away from Chloe’s murder, but his insistence only made Lois more determined that she was on the right track with her investigation.

 

Eventually, the father-daughter pair made it into the house and Clark watched as the General swiftly but politely turned down the dinner invitation his mother had extended, all the while telling Lois to ‘double-time’ it.

 

Lois rolled her eyes at her father’s orders. “Let me just hug Clark goodbye.” She said before running up and throwing her arms around his neck.

 

Clark was shocked as she hugged him, freezing momentarily before wrapping his arms around her and returning the hug. “This is about Chloe. Clark, find the connection to LuthorCorp.”

 

The hug ended as quickly as it started, Lois and her father making their way off the farm with military precision. Clark meanwhile stayed rooted in one spot until his mother told him that dinner was ready. Lois Lane blew into his life like a tornado and turned it upside down. She could annoy him like no other and knew exactly what to say or do to rile him up. He was glad that her stay at the farm had been cut short by her father. And yet he couldn’t get the feel of her body pressed lightly against his as she hugged him, even if it was just to convey a message, out of his mind.

 

He gulped as he sat down for dinner, barely tasting the food as it passed his lips. He was in trouble, and its name was Lois Lane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was so fun to write (let's be real, I just liked the shower scene).
> 
> I always thought that as this point in season 4 there was so much sexual tension between the two, even though they annoyed each other and as I'm not constricted by TV ratings, I'm adding what I want.
> 
> So, I've started up my final lecture term of undergrad (totally not freaking out at all) and looking at my schedule, I've decided that I will update every Friday at least, so look out for updates then!


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois and Clark get closer to finding Chloe. Lois gets a surprise.

Lois had asked Clark to find the connection to LuthorCorp, so he went to the one Luthor who wasn’t currently behind bars. Lex was having a heated discussion with a smartly dressed man when Clark entered the study, ignoring the butler’s claim that Lex was currently busy. The doors banged open as Clark entered. Lex looked up from his conversation at the noise, surprised when he saw who his visitor was.

 

Turning back to the man he was talking to, Lex ended the conversation. “Agent Stocker, will you excuse us?” Lex watched as Clark remained impassively at the door, arms crossed and silent. “Does this mean you’re talking to me again?”

 

“Only because I don’t have a choice.” Clark replied.

 

“Relegated from friend to last resort.” Lex grimaced. “I guess I’ll have to accept it if it’s my only chance to prove myself.”

 

“Good because I want you to help me find Chloe.”

 

Lex sighed, moving to pour himself a drink. “Look, I’d like to set things straight between us, Clark, but don’t you think raising someone from the grave is setting the bar a little high?”

 

“Lex, Chloe’s not in her grave.” At Lex’s refusal to look at Clark as he spoke, Clark stepped forward, walking towards him slowly. “She was the linchpin in your father’s trial. You would’ve had investigators crawling all over the area. What did they find?”

 

“Clark,” Lex placated. “I pulled some strings and asked the FBI not to release all the morbid details. Chloe’s casket is empty because there was nothing left to bury.”

 

Clark tensed, clenching his fists as Lex’s desk caught his eye. Next to his glass of whiskey was the butt of a chevelo cigar in the ash try. And last he new, Lex didn’t smoke. He turned to leave, thoughts swarming in his head as he heard Lex attempt to apologise. Something was going on here and he was going to find out what it was.

 

~~~

 

Lois rummaged through her father’s desk at the base. The General was out overseeing manoeuvres, meaning that she had the next few hours to investigate. So far there wasn’t anything at all that linked her father to Chloe’s disappearance, but she knew her father. He wouldn’t have used a helicopter unless Lois was onto something. She was flicking through his log book when the door opened, Clark quietly stepped through before closing it again.

 

“I gotta say Smallville, I’m impressed that a farm boy made it onto the base undetected.” She remarked. “What are you doing here?”

 

“Looking for you.”

 

She looked up at him, fluttering her eyelashes for effect. “Why, Smallville, I’m shocked. I didn’t realise that you couldn’t stand to be apart from me already.”

 

Clark rolled his eyes at her behaviour, approaching her to see what she had found. “Actually, I was going to tell you that I paid a visit to our friendly neighbourhood Luthor and I think your father is working with him. I saw one of his cigar’s in Lex’s library.”

 

Her brow furrowed as she continued to flip through the log, her eyes widening as she saw meetings with Lex Luthor scheduled in her father’s block handwriting. “Well, what do you know? My dad and the king of trust fund kids.”

 

“They’re trying to cover up something to do with Chloe and if he found us here…”

 

“Relax, Clark,” she cut him off, waving her hand in the air, “I can handle him. Besides, if you think that chopper recital was something, you should’ve seen the escort I had for prom.”

 

“Wow, and I thought my father was overprotective.” He replied, not needing much imagination to imagine Lois being escorted to prom military style.

 

Lois grinned as she saw Clark visualising it. “I guess when he lost my mom, he kind of cracked, you know? And ever since, he’s been scared of losing me.” She watched as he spotted the picture on the General’s desk, an old one of him with her on his lap and her mother at his side. “I can actually talk about it.” She spoke softly, not wanting to startle Clark from his train of thought. “She died when I was six.”

 

“I’m sorry.” He finally spoke, eyes still cast downwards.

 

“Don’t be.” She smirked. “Unless, of course, you’re the one that got her hooked on cigarettes behind the gym in high school.”

 

Clark smiled sadly. “Obviously not.” He watched as Lois continued to flip through the log book. “I’m adopted.” He announced suddenly, surprising himself as the words flowed out of his mouth. “My birth parents died shortly after I was born and I love my mom and dad but…”

 

“You wonder what they were like?” She asked and he nodded in reply. “I at least have some memories of my mom, fuzzy as they may be, but I kinda know where you’re coming from. It’s natural, wanting to know if you’re like them, where you come from. Now come on,” she announced, tossing him one of the various log books. Truth be told, she wanted to stop their current conversation before it got to serious, the deep conversation they were sharing making her uncomfortable. “Make yourself useful.”

 

Clark flipped quickly through the pages of the book, stopping suddenly when a name caught his eye. “Nellie Blye?” He asked, Lois peering over his shoulder to look at what he found.

 

“Well, look at that.” She mused. “Can you believe that after fifteen years my dad is finally getting some action?”

 

“Lois, Nellie Blye died nearly 80 years ago.”

 

“But he has a meeting with her every week!”

 

“She was one of the first undercover female reporters.” Clark explained. “She was Chloe’s hero.”

 

“It says here that she is at 2347 Walnut Street.” Lois read, looking up from the planner to find Clark gone. “Clark?” She called, glancing around to find him nowhere in sight. “What the hell?”

 

~~~

 

After his confrontation with Lex at the secondary safe house, Clark rushed to the foundry, bursting in to find Chloe being attacked by the same meteor freak that had attacked Lois only yesterday. He acted quickly as Chloe passed out, grabbing the meteor freak from behind and tossing him through the air and into a wall.

 

They quickly began to fight, Clark dodging the freak’s metal arms as he continued to swing at him. Clark blocked an attack and pushed Chloe’s attacker away, going to punch him, only to find that his one solid metal body turned to liquid, causing Clark to fall right through him.

 

Looking at the meteor freak in disbelief, Clark managed to catch himself before he could roll into a vat of melted metal. The sight of the red hot liquid caused Clark to get an idea, turning around to find his opponent’s body covered in an electrical current. Lois had arrived and was attacking the freak with an electric ray gun. He quickly went to aid her, turning his heat vision onto the body until finally he exploded, tiny drops of liquid metal plopping into the vent below where he once stood.

 

“What the hell was that?” Lois asked, watching as Clark stood up, thankfully unharmed. “You know, Chloe always told me this town was weird.” She commented. “I don’t know how you ever survived without me.”

 

Clark rolled his eyes, never having wanted to use his secret to shut someone up more. “How’d you get here anyway?” He asked, turning around to run towards where Chloe was.

 

“What do you mean how did I get here? How did you get here?”

 

He swore mentally, deciding to ignore her question and instead call out to Chloe. “Chloe?” He called, heart pounding as he found her unconscious and bound on the floor. Clark quickly knelt next to her and untied her. “Chloe, are you okay? Chloe?”

 

Slowly, her eyes opened and Chloe laughed with relief, throwing her arms around Clark’s neck and hugging him tightly.

 

“I was so afraid I’d lost you.” Clark breathed a sigh of relief, helping her to her feet and making sure that she didn’t have any grave injuries.

 

Chloe looked over his shoulder, gasping in surprise as she saw her cousin standing besides Clark. “Lois?” She asked. “Lois, what are you doing here?”

 

Lois rushed forward to hug her cousin, pulling her in close. “Putting the worst two months of my life behind me.” The cousins rocked back and forth. “I’m so glad I found you.”

 

“I?” Clark asked, Lois sending him a scathing look.

 

“Semantics.” She replied.

 

Chloe looked between her cousin and best friend, seeing the annoyance flow between them. “If you guys don’t mind, I’d really like to get out of here.”

 

“Let’s get you out of here, Chloe.” Clark suggested as both he and Lois put their arms around her.

 

“Before Lionel throws anymore creeps at you.”Lois said.

 

“Yeah, because tomorrow morning in court, I’m gonna kick Lionel Luthor’s butt.” Chloe grinned as they walked out of the factory.

 

~~~

 

The air was still as Clark made his way into the caves, finding himself drawn to them in spite of his resistance to his destiny. He had just spent the past few months here, trapped against his will in the matrix, but he felt the need to come back. There was something about these caves that kept drawing him in, as much as he resented what they represented.

 

“Lana.” Clark stated when he entered the caves, surprised to find Lana studying the paintings. “What are you doing down here?” He asked.

 

“Probably the same thing you are.” She replied nervously, tucking her hair behind her ear. “It’s peaceful.”

 

“You’re two for two.” He smiled. “You keep showing up when I least expect to see you.”

 

“I know.”

 

“It’s just… When you left, I wasn’t sure when I’d see you again.”

 

“It’s funny, isn’t it?” She asked, a sad smile on her face. “After everything we’ve been through, I thought it would take us longer to get over it.”

 

Clark tilted his head, confused at her words. “Us?”

 

“You and Lois.” Lana prompted, watching as a myriad of emotions flickered across her ex’s face.

 

“Lois?” Clark asked in disbelief. “She’s bossy.” He protested, ignoring Lana’s smiling face at his refusal. “She’s stuck up, she’s rude. I can’t stand her.”

 

Lana just nodded and smiled knowingly. “The best ones always start that way.”

 

~~~

 

Clark couldn’t get Lana’s words out of his head. Ever since he had run into her in the caves and she had commented on himself and Lois, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. His mother had made passing comments about his interactions with the girl, but that Clark had been able to ignore. But now his ex, the one who he never thought he would get over, was commenting on some invisible spark between him and the mouthy army brat. He just didn’t see it, but apparently everyone around him did, and that worried him. Clark was the first to admit that he could be blind about matters of the heart and he was truly terrified that what Lana had said was true. Lois was unlike any woman he had ever met, and while that was a good thing in some respects, he couldn’t imagine falling in love with her.

 

Frustrated, Clark threw the football he had been tossing in his hands, grinning when he saw that it went straight through the tire he had hung up. It didn’t matter anyway, Lois had left, going to start at Met U this fall.

 

“Nice arm, farm boy!”

 

Clark startled at the intrusion, whipping his head around to find Lois approaching him, hands shoved in her pockets.

 

“When’s the first game?” She asked.

 

“I’m not on the team.” He replied, walking over to retrieve the ball.

 

“Why not?” Lois asked, genuinely curious. From what she knew of him, Clark was the typical all-American boy and it puzzled her that he wasn’t on the football team. “An arm like that is a ‘get out of geek free’ pass.”

 

“Thanks, but I don’t really consider myself a geek.” He replied, moving to walk past her.

 

“Well, what do you see yourself as?” She asked, lengthening her stride to keep up with him.

 

Clark shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. An outsider, I guess.”

 

“That’s a recipe for wedgies if I’ve ever heard one.”

 

He spun around, looking at her with an irritated expression. “Have I told you how much I’m gonna miss you?”

 

Lois was about to reply, sarcastic barb on the tip of her tongue when she saw Clark still and his posture straightened. Groaning in annoyance, she turned around to find her father in front of them. “Daddy, don’t you have three thousand guys to babysit?” She stated. “Do you really need to keep checking up on me?”

 

“It would appear that way.” Sam replied gruffly, crossing his arms over his chest.

 

“Look, I know that I’m late, but I can still make it to campus for orientation.” She replied, not understanding why her father was deciding that now was the time to parent. Sure, she was running late, but she had wanted to say goodbye to Clark. As much as she teased him, she was going to miss their banter.

 

“Save yourself a trip. Met U just yanked your acceptance.” He informed her.

 

“What?” Lois asked in disbelief. “They can’t do that.”

 

“They can if you don’t have enough credits to finish high school.”

 

“Look, I know I missed a few classes, but…”

 

“Lo,” Sam sighed, “you failed the last semester.”

 

Clark began to laugh, only to stop when the General glared at him, his mouth clamping shut. While consciously, Clark knew that the General couldn’t physically hurt him, that didn’t mean that the intimidating man didn’t scare him.

 

“Don’t worry,” Sam smirked, glancing between his daughter and the Kent boy. “I’m sure that Clark will be happy to show you around.”

 

“Around where?” Lois and Clark asked simultaneously, exchanging glances.

 

The General turned to leave, delivering his final news with a smug expression on his face. “Bright and early tomorrow morning,” he paused, swivelling his head around to look at his daughter, “you start Smallville High.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now the real fun begins.
> 
> When I first watched the scene where Lana was like 'the best ones always start that way' I was filled with so much hope. Of course, the writers seemed to think that love-triangles and unhealthy relationships made for the best TV (not) so we have several more seasons of drama. However, that was still probably the moment where I liked Lana's character the most.
> 
> Let me know what you guys think!


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois' first week at Smallville High is unsurprisingly eventful.

Lois groaned as she got out of the car, Clark almost running to catch up with enraged bottle blonde. He waved to Chloe as she got out of her own car, the younger cousin laughing at her elder cousin’s obviously disgruntled face. “I can’t believe that I have to repeat my senior year.” Lois grumbled, crossing her arms as she marched into what would be her prison for the next few months. In her defence, she had thought that she had filed the correct paperwork for her absence—the General had ordered her to chase after a wayward Lucy a month before her graduation. It wasn’t her fault if her high school and Met U had had a communication mishap.

 

“You know,” Chloe spoke, “socially divisive cliques and hall passes aside, this place really isn’t all that bad.”

 

“Please,” Lois snorted, “it’s the varsity version of Dante’s seventh ring.”

 

“Come on, do you know how many people would kill to relive their senior year?”

 

Lois crossed her arms, ignoring her cousin’s gleeful mood at having the elder of the two in the same town as her and at her high school. “Not if I have anything to say about it. I’m going to bug Met U’s admission department so much, they’ll let me in just to shut me up.”

 

“Come on, it’s going to be great having you here.” Chloe said. “You can even join the Torch. I can see it now, Sullivan and Lane on the byline.”

 

Clark rolled his eyes as Lois replied to her cousin. “Lane and Sullivan.” She corrected automatically. “And no hard feelings here, Cuz, but unlike you, the last thing I want to be is a reporter.”

 

“Yeah, God.” Chloe replied sarcastically. “What could be worse than, you know, uncovering the truth and protecting the public?”

 

“And sticking your nose in other people’s business.” Lois added.

 

“Like I said,” Chloe smirked, “you’d be perfect!” With that Chloe turned towards the school, eager to get back inside the Torch and start her senior year off right. “Come on, Slowpokes!” She yelled back at Lois and Clark. “Let’s go!”

 

Clark strolled reluctantly along behind Lois and Chloe, tuning out Chloe’s incessant jabbering about the school and its occupants to Lois. He had been thinking a lot about football, especially with Lois’ comments to him yesterday, and he couldn’t help but hope that if he tried out, he could get on the team. Even without using his powers, he had a good sense of coordination and a good arm, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch for him to try out for the team. He doubted that he’d ever be first string, but at least he’d finally belong to a team.

 

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t notice the girl who approached him at his locker, eyes widening in surprise as he tried to recognise the classmate in front of him. “Abby?” He questioned.

 

“Actually, it’s Abigail now.” She replied softly, tucking her hair behind her ear.

 

“Wow,” Clark exclaimed, “I almost didn’t recognise you.”

 

Abby beamed. “After an entire summer in recovery… Good. With any luck, this old locker will be the only thing that stays the same this year.”

 

Clark watched as Abby walked away, talking briefly to one of the guys on the football team before heading to her class. Lois rolled her eyes at him, slapping him on his arm to stop his staring. “What?” He exclaimed in protest.

 

“Stop ogling, Smallville, it’s rude.”

 

Chloe chuckled at their interaction. “Well, she does look different. Either she spent an entire summer at a silicon farm, or I am shopping at the wrong makeup counters.”

 

“How old is she?” Lois asked, brows furrowing. “Seventeen? That’s like messing with the batter before the cookies are even baked.”

 

“Don’t tell me that the world isn’t nicer to prettier people, Lo.” Chloe replied as she slammed her locker shut. “Besides, you know, it’s her body and if it makes her feel better, then it’s none of our business.”

 

“I’m stunned.” Lois gasped in fake horror. “Miss ‘Letter to the Editor’ doesn’t find it one bit disgusting that a girl would get nipped and tucked to transform into some plastic pod person?”

 

“Well, I think she looks great.” Clark interrupted, only to receive another scathing look from Lois. “What?” He asked, shrugging his shoulders. “She does.”

 

“What a shocker.” Lois replied drying. “See, that’s the problem with high school. It’s all a facade. Everyone’s hiding who they really are and trying to be something they’re not.”

 

Chloe smirked at her cousin. “Well, it sounds like you’ve got your first article. See you at the Torch!” She announced before hightailing it away from where the trio had gathered.

 

“Chloe!” Lois yelled before chasing after her cousin, leaving Clark to his own devices.

 

Clark chuckled as he watched Lois sprint murderously after Chloe. The two cousins were incredibly alike despite not having seen each other in years, and it made him wonder just how much trouble they could get into together. However, he chose rather not to dwell on that, knowing that he’d probably have to rescue them, and instead chose to go find out about football tryouts. After all, as Abby’s transformation struck home, it was senior year. It’s his last chance.

 

~~~

 

Sighing in relief of having survived her first day, Lois had never been happier to get into her car. It had been a long day, especially with Chloe hounding her to the point that she actually relented and joined the Torch. Plus, even though she had been calling the admissions office throughout the entire day, they refused to budge on her admissions status. She was considering dialling them again on her way home when someone ran in front of the car, forcing her to slam on her brakes.

 

“What the hell?” Lois screamed as she got out of the car, immediately dialling 911 when she saw that the person, who she now identified as a football jock, was unconscious.

 

The next several minutes passed rapidly as Lois gave her report of events to the emergency services as Brett was carted away in the ambulance.

 

“Lois?” Clark called as he jogged up to the scene, football gear in hand. “What happened? Are you okay?”

 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Brett, I think his name was, he just ran out in front of me.” Lois explained. “I don’t know. They said he’s going to be fine, but I think he kind of lost it.”

 

Clark frowned. “Brett? I just saw him at practice an hour ago. He was fine.”

 

“Are you sure about that?” She asked, continuing when Clark nodded. “Think about it, Clark. It’s the start of a new season, scholarships, the entire town counting on you to be their hero. Who knows what kind of neuroses are hiding behind that ‘Big Man on Campus’ mask?”

 

He shook his head. “No way. If anything, Brett was too overconfident. He probably just didn’t see you.”

 

“Yeah, that might explain the broken windshield, but do you want to tell me why he was running around half naked and soaking wet? Who would do that?”

 

Clark turned to her, taking the opportunity to goad her. “Well, Lois, as a new journalist for the Torch, isn’t it your responsibility to investigate that?”

 

He should have known, really, that urging Lois to investigate Brett’s apparent breakdown would come back to bite him in the ass. The last place that, as Lois had so eloquently put it, ‘Brett still had his marbles’, was in the locker room. Clark had suggested that he go and check it out seeing as he was a guy and could thus go inside. And well, Lois didn’t exactly like that suggestion.

 

“Hey, hey!” Clark exclaimed, running to put himself in front of her as Lois walked confidently into the locker room, seemingly unaware of the various football players walking around in towels. “The last time I checked, you were missing a few prerequisites for being in here.” He glanced around nervously as his new teammates continued to eye her, growing more uncomfortable as Lois remained unperturbed.

 

Smirking, Lois cocked her hip, placing her hands on her waist. “So you have been checking me out?”

 

He felt himself turning red, barely managing to contain his body’s natural reaction to her teasing by stifling it with a groan. “Lois, just wait outside.”

 

“Are you kidding? Tortured senior can’t keep up the hometown hero act and buckles? This is as juicy as my teen cosmetic surgery article.” 

 

Clark watched carefully as Lois walked over to a group of guys who had clearly been in the middle of changing before she had entered the locker room. He glowered as they blatantly checked her out, their eyes roving her body. “Excuse me,” she asked, “how well did you know Brett Anderson?”

 

The guy smiled at Lois before replying, his reply making Clark nearly want to throw him into the lockers at full strength. “Not as well as I’d like to know you.”

 

“Charming.” Lois grimaced. “Look, Brett ran in front of my car. Do any of you guys know what that was all about?”

 

Accepting that Lois could handle herself and that frankly, whatever was compelling him to want to throw his teammates into a wall was probably not a healthy emotion for him, Clark slinked out of view, walking over to the showers. He frowned as a golden glint caught his eye next to Brett’s abandoned football jersey, picking up the necklace and holding it out in front of him.

 

“Whatcha got there, Smallville?”

 

“Jesus, Lois!” Clark jumped, almost dropping the necklace as Lois snuck up behind him. He hadn’t been surprised like that since his super hearing had developed. 

 

Lois laughed at his reaction, elbowing him in the gut before grabbing the necklace from him. “And ‘A’ stands for Abby?” She guessed, Clark nodding in confirmation. “Well, I guess my hometown hero story and my plastic surgery story are related.”

 

~~~

 

Her legs stuck to the plastic of the table as Lois sat patiently in the doctor’s office, watching as Dr. Fine scribbled on a notepad. She knew that Chloe and Clark were working on some leads for this story, but dammit, this was Lois’ story and she was going to do it herself.

 

“My parents don’t understand.” Lois lied. “They say I’m too young for plastic surgery.”

 

The doctor smiled gently at Lois as she prodded her face. “Well, some parents don’t remember what it was like. When I was your age, I wasn’t exactly homecoming queen. I worked harder than all the pretty girls only to watch everything get handed to them.” Dr. Fine’s smile turned smug as she rolled her chair away from Lois, her hands gesticulating to show off her enhancements. “Seven surgeries and two years changed all that.”

 

“You know,” Lois asked cautiously, “I was actually interested in that new procedure you used on Abby. Is it really true that you only have to come in once?”

 

“That’s why I developed the process. I didn’t want to watch my daughter go through the pain that I endured only to have what other girls are lucky enough to be born with.”

 

Dr. Fine proceeded to schedule an appointment for Lois, only to pause when a high-pitched noise emerged from Lois’ purse.

 

“You know what, I’m actually running a little late.” Lois laughed, standing up and reaching for her purse.

 

The doctor was faster than Lois however, lunging forward and grabbing the purse. “Are you recording this?” Dr. Fine accused as she pulled a tape recorder out of the bag.

 

“I’m going to expose you.” Lois responded, standing her ground.

 

“Who are you to stop people from being their best?” The doctor seethed, blocking the door to the room.

 

“Call me crazy, but I’ve always been a firm believer that beauty… It’s on the inside.” Lois screamed as Dr. Fine wrapped her arm around her neck, her struggles faltering as she felt a sedative being injected into her neck. 

 

“The people that say that,” the doctor whispered, “are the ones who already have it on the outside.”

 

Lois watched helplessly as needles descended upon her, the tubs above her slowly filling with green liquid. She thrashed her arms, hoping to find a weak spot in the plastic encasing her but failing. She was trapped, at the mercy of a mad plastic surgeon.

 

The moment that Chloe had found the appointment that Lois had made with the plastic surgeon, Clark had left at top speed for the address. He knew that she could take care of herself, she had proven that a few times in their short acquaintance, but his gut was telling him that something had gone wrong; That Lois was in trouble.

 

He burst into the operating room, crashing through the glass door and grabbing onto the covering with the needles before it could be completely lowered. With a burst of strength, Clark pushed the cover off of Lois. His actions had consequences however, the green liquid from the tubes releasing into the room as a gas.

 

“Clark?” Lois questioned hazily, the effects of the sedative still wearing off.

 

Clark coughed as he felt the undeniable effects of meteor rock. His footsteps faltered and he stumbled, his muscles suddenly too weak to hold him up. He gasped as he stumbled away from the table, falling down as Dr. Fine hit him with a metal tray, sending him tumbling.

 

Meanwhile, Lois had freed herself from her bonds, kicking Dr. Fine in the face. She was about to grab her bag when she noticed Clark collapsed on the floor, struggling to stay on his knees. “Clark!” She exclaimed, running over to him and wrapping her arms around his waist to support him. It was odd for her, seeing such a strong person so weak. “Are you okay?”

 

“Get me out of here.” He croaked in response.

 

Lois acted quickly, helping Clark up and moving them towards the door. Dr. Fine came after them again, but Lois felt her approach, whipping around quickly and launching a kick to the centre of the doctor’s chest and sending her back onto the floor. “Bitch.” She spat before helping Clark out of the office.

 

His recovery upon leaving the room was almost miraculous, Lois observing as he stumbled upon a plausible explanation for both his weakness and his recovery. This was clearly one of the things that Chloe mentioned about her friend that didn’t add up. Unlike her cousin however, Lois wasn’t going to push Clark into telling her. Instead, she punched his shoulder and grinned at him. “Thanks for the help there, Smallville. Now come on, I have an article to write.”

 

~~~

 

Lois couldn’t help the pride she felt as she read her words on paper. It may have just been for a high school in Podunk, but people were actually listening to, well reading, what she had to say. There was even a small picture, so that everyone knew what she looked like, given her status as new student at the school.

 

“Admiring the genius within, huh?” Chloe asked as she approached her cousin at their lockers.

 

Her cousin scoffed, finger pointing to a random spot on the page. “It had a typo.”

 

Chloe rolled her eyes. “Oh, nice try.” She said, before filling Lois in on what she had found out about Abby and the fate of her mother. “Now that that’s over, are you excited for your first pep rally?” Chloe asked, the cousins beginning to walk in the direction of the field.

 

“Not exactly the Friday night I’ve been dreaming of.” Lois replied.

 

“Oh, come on! It’s your debut as Smallville’s newest celeb!”

 

Lois rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. One plastics ‘r’ us piece, and they’re going to be holding tables all over town for me.”

 

“You’d be surprised. I mean, not that I’m ceding my stance on a woman’s right to choose rhinoplasty, but you’ve got fan mail.” Chloe said, handing Lois a thick stack of letters. “Looks like your little exposé struck a couple of chords.”

 

“I didn’t even expect anybody to read this, let alone have a… ‘life-changing experience.’ Please.”

 

Now it was Chloe’s turn to roll her eyes. “Whatever. Say what you want, but I know, inside, it’s getting to you. Welcome to the bullpen, Miss Lane.” She laughed, spreading her arms out and gesturing to the entire school. “Now, I’m off to see Clark Kent in a wet t-shirt. Care to join me.”

 

Lois sniggered, she had seen Clark in less than a wet t-shirt and boy was he hiding a lot underneath those plain shirts. “Like I’ve never seen that before.” She replied before quickly running to catch up with her cousin.

 

Out on the field, Lois glared at her target as her first attempt at dunking Clark failed. She could vaguely hear the encouraging words of the assistant football coach and the roar of the crowd, but she was too focused on her goal to pay them much attention.

 

“Come on, Lois!” Clark taunted, arms crossed smugly across his chest. “Didn’t those guys on the base teach you anything?”

 

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” She bantered right back, her tone teasing. Lois watched as Clark signalled towards the target in clear challenge, betting her on whether or not she could successfully dunk him. Competitive spirit filling her, Lois adjusted her grip on the football before speaking. “Doesn’t matter because you’re going down!” She said, gesturing his future motion with her hand.

 

“That’ll be the day.” Clark laughed.

 

The crowd began to chant at Lois reared back, putting her whole body weight behind the throw. She watched as the ball spiralled perfectly through the air, hitting the target dead centre. The crowd erupted in cheers as Clark dropped into the tank with a surprised look on his face, Lois throwing her arms up in victory.

 

Running forward as Clark pulled himself upright, Lois beamed as she approached him. He was drenched, his white shirt clinging to his chest and abs. She allowed herself a moment of gratuitous ogling before speaking. “Famous last words, Smallville, famous last words.” She teased, ruffling his hair before pulling back, making to get away before Clark could exact his revenge.

 

She moved too late however, as Clark grabbed her arm and easily lifted her into the tank with him. The cold water shocked her as Lois was submerged in it. “Clark Kent!” She exclaimed, furious.

 

Clark chortled, moving his arm to splash her with more water. “Payback’s a bitch, Lane!”

 

“Oh, you are so dead, Smallville!” She replied, water from his recent splash dripping down her face as she splashed him back.

 

The duo eventually dragged themselves out of the tank, continuing to tease each other with matching, luminescent smiles on their faces as they walked to pick up some towels. Chloe watched her cousin and best friend interact, the smile on her face from the festivities dropping as she observed them. She had noticed from almost the instant she had first seen them together that they had a special relationship, though at the time she had thought that it centred more on annoyance than anything else. She couldn’t imagine Clark with anyone as brash as Lois, but as Chloe looked at them, laughing and teasing each other, Chloe saw that Lois brought out a confident side of Clark that Chloe had rarely seen before.

 

Lois and Clark were getting close, Chloe knew that. After all, they were living with each other. But what Chloe had just seen, that was more than just close. Whether either of them were willing to admit it, there was a spark, a certain chemistry, between the two bickering housemates. And that’s when Chloe knew that even though Lana was out of the picture, she wasn’t going to have her chance with Clark. No, whether they acted on their obvious attraction or not, it was Lois’ turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so next chapter is where it kinda starts to go AU, and then a few chapters from then it really starts to diverge from the original plot line a bit.
> 
> In other news, I have an interview tomorrow with my top choice PhD program, so wish me luck!


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A spiked sports drink causes problems around Smallville High.

Lois groaned in frustration as she hung up her phone. The university was stonewalling her, refusing to allow her to talk to the dean. She was certain that if she could talk to the dean, she could explain the paperwork error, but they wouldn’t even let her schedule a meeting with him. All they would give her is that once she ‘actually’ graduated from high school, they would reconsider her application and that she would most likely get in. However, that meant spending more time at Podunk High. Lois growled, opening her locker and slamming the door against the locker on the other side.

 

Clark quirked an eyebrow at Lois’ aggressive behaviour towards the lockers. “You know,” he commented, walking up to her, “if you spent half as much time studying as you did trying to leave, you’d be in college already.”

 

She turned to face him, turning her irritation towards him. “And we’d you get that Pearl of Wisdom, the farmer’s almanac?”

 

“Ha ha.” Clark replied. “So what did they say that’s got you taking out your anger on your locker?”

 

“They won’t let me even schedule a meeting with the dean to sort out the transcript issue. I just have to apply all over again.” She rolled her eyes, grabbing her books and slamming her locker shut with equal rage as when she had opened it. “They say I’m guaranteed admission this time around but…”

 

“You know, I can maybe put a word in with Lex—”

 

Lois cut him off, raising her hand to stop him from speaking. “I appreciate the thought, Smallville, really I do, but I don’t want either of us owing the bald wonder. And if I do get into Met U this year, I want to have gotten in on my own merit.”

 

“And if you’re stuck here all year?”

 

“Then when I do finally get there, the dean will never forget Lois Lane.”

 

Clark smirked. “Oh, that I don’t doubt.” He grinned at his companion, whose angry countenance was scaring people out of their way as they walked towards the Torch. “So, what do you think?” He asked, tugging on his new jacket.

 

Lois eyed Clark carefully, taking in his red and gold letterman’s jacket that he was wearing with pride. It was slightly adorable, she would admit, how proud Clark was to be on the football team. That didn’t mean that she had to let him know that though. “They’re not really your colours.”

 

“They’re the school’s colours.”

 

She continued teasing him as they walked, passing a stream of cheerleaders with their boyfriends following after them, carrying their textbooks. Lois and Clark exchanged confused looks as they passed one of his teammates holding up a mirror for his girlfriend as she put on lipstick.

 

“Uh, Smallville,” Lois asked, “have your teammates been drinking the kool aid?”

 

“I have no idea, Lois.” Clark replied honestly, wondering what had caused so many of his teammates to be acting so strangely recently. “Actually, Danny got benched this week because he walked off the field in the middle of practice to take his girlfriend shopping. And he attacked Jason with a gun for apparently going after his girlfriend.”

 

“Glad to see that my budding albeit tardy journalists are on the case.” Chloe smiled as her friends entered the Torch. “Something weird is going on here.”

 

“Sorry that we’re late, Chlo,” Clark apologised, “Lois here was busy terrorising the Met U admissions department and I had to pick up my new jacket. What do you think?”

 

Chloe looked at her best friend. “Not exactly your colours.”

 

Lois laughed as Clark groaned. “They’re the school colours.”

 

“And speaking of the football players,” Chloe spoke. “Lois, can you stop by the hospital and—“

 

She was cut off by a loud ringtone filling the air, Lois jumping in excitement when she realised that it was her phone. “Hello?” There was a pause as the person on the other end spoke, Lois’ face brightening as the person on the other end spoke. “Yes, I will hold for the dean.”

 

Chloe watched as her cousin mumbled her apologies before leaving the Torch office. “Okay then, I’ll go to the hospital, Clark, can you talk to Coach Teague?”

 

Clark blushed sheepishly. “Sorry, Chlo but with football, I’m going to have to dial back my time at the Torch.”

 

The blonde’s eyes widened in shock, fighting to turn her natural reaction into a smile. “Well, I guess I’ve got my work cut out for me then.”

 

“I’m sorry. You know, my priorities…”

 

“You know what?” Chloe said as she gathered together her things, rushing to leave the office. “Don’t worry about it. This has got to be a pretty big deal for you. I mean, you’re the new starting quarterback, right? It’s got to be pretty exciting.”

 

Clark opened his mouth to reply, only to have Chloe brush past him in a flurry of energy, muttering her goodbyes as she sped out of the Torch. “Okay?” He questioned, shoving his hands into his pockets. He shrugged as he turned to leave himself. As much as Chloe’s reaction worried him, right now he had to focus on getting his teammates to like him.

 

~~~  


Chloe sat frustrated on a bench on the football field. Today was not her day. Lois and Clark were doing god knows what, their priorities at the moment not in journalism, leaving Chloe with more work than one person could handle. On top of that, her attempts at getting interviews had been dodged by both Danny and Coach Teague. She had nothing for her story and no help to get it. Sighing, Chloe grabbed herself a cup of the sports drink for the players, taking a sip as she watched the football practice.

 

Soon, the cup was emptied and Chloe smiled, looking at Clark on the field, calling out orders to his teammates. “Clark…” She sighed, leaning forward and propping her head on her hands. Priorities, it was all about priorities. And now Chloe knew what she needed to do.

 

Chloe swiftly made her way to the Torch, grinning happily when her cousin was already there. “Hey, Lois, I’m gonna need you to run with that psycho quarterback story.” She handed Lois her notebook, smiling as she turned around to leave. “You might want to check out the girlfriend, Mandy. She’s a cheerleader.”

 

Lois was puzzled at her cousin’s behaviour. “Uh, Chloe, I’m busy trying to get out of Mayberry.”

 

“That’s fine.” Chloe shrugged. “Do whatever you want. You’re in charge now.” She beamed as she continued speaking. “I’m quitting the Torch.”

 

“Whoa, wait, what?” Lois asked. “Quitting? Why?”

 

Chloe sighed dreamily. “I finally understand why it never worked with Clark.”

 

Brow furrowed, Lois questioned her cousin. “Okay, I’ll bite.”

 

“Because I was never there for him!” Chloe announced excitedly, throwing her hands in the air. “I was always here, buried in this stupid school newspaper. I wasn’t devoted to him.” She chuckled, laughing at her past behaviour. “But that’s all going to change now.”

 

“Okay, Chloe, something’s wrong, this is crazy talk! You love the Torch! It’s your baby! You can’t quit! No guy is worth changing who you are!”

 

Chloe frowned at her cousin, marching up angrily to her. “You know what’s crazy? I actually thought you’d be happy for me. Now that Lana and Clark are finally a thing of the past, I may actually have a shot at this. Why are you getting in my way?”

 

The elder of the pair sighed in defeat. “Fine. Looks like I’m gonna be covering the pom-pom beat.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

Lois watched as Chloe left the Torch, nearly skipping down the halls. Something was wrong with her cousin, very wrong. And she was going to find out what.

 

~~~  


The next day, after a bit of research involving the advanced chemistry textbook and the cheerleaders, Lois felt confident that she at least had a piece of the puzzle of the psycho quarterback situation and what was happening to her cousin. Now she just needed to confront Clark to make sure that there was absolutely no other possible explanation, at least where her cousin was involved.

 

Clark shuddered as he remembered Chloe’s seduction plan last night in his loft. He had come up to the loft after dinner, hoping to be alone to think about his problems with the team, and he had arrived to find the entire place lit with candles, Chloe sat on the couch in nothing but his jersey. He had somehow managed to convince her to go home, but not before she had kissed him. Clark still wasn’t sure what to do about that. He had no idea what was going on with Chloe, and it seemed like the team was determined to make him fail. It just wasn’t turning out to be his week.

 

“Hey, Smallville!” Lois called, catching up to Clark next to the bleachers. “What did you do to my cousin? She’s freaking me out.”

 

“Lois, I’ve done nothing to Chloe. She’s been hitting on me.” Lowering his voice, Clark glanced around to make sure that no one was listening to their conversation. “Last night, I found her in my loft in nothing but my jersey.”

 

“Seriously?” She asked, tentative.

 

“Seriously.” He confirmed. “I don’t know what’s going on. I got her to go home but she was acting really weird. We decided ages ago that we were better off as friends. In fact, she suggested it. So I don’t know where this is coming from.”

 

“Did you accidentally send some kind of signal or something?”

 

“No, Lois.” Clark sighed, running his fingers through his hair as he picked his helmet up. “Look, can we talk about this later?”

 

Lois was about to tell him about the possible connection to Danny going crazy and her theory about the cheerleaders when Chloe came running, pom-poms in the air, in a cheerleader uniform.

 

“Hey! Hey, Clark!” She cheered, smiling deliriously. “Hi!”

 

“Oh, my God.” Lois exclaimed, eyes wide.

 

“Chloe…” Clark replied as Chloe came running up to the pair excitedly. “What’s up with the cheerleader uniform?”

 

“I found it in the storage locker.” She replied. “I thought, you know, what better way to support my new favourite quarterback than to join the cheerleading squad?” Chloe squealed, crushing her pom-poms together. “We can be together all the time.”

 

Clark and Lois exchanged a worried look as they took in their friend. Chloe frowned at the interaction, her devoted smile dimming.

 

“What’s she doing here?” Chloe accused, sending a scathing look towards Lois.

 

“Hey, Kent!” Jason yelled from the field. “Some time today!”

 

Clark quickly took the excuse to leave, motioning to Lois to keep an eye on her cousin. Lois watched as Chloe cheered Clark on, chanting out cheers and even blowing him a kiss.

 

“Oh my, God,” Lois said, shocked. “She’s taken the fast train to Stepford.”

 

At a break, Clark ran back over to Lois under the pretence of getting something to drink. Keeping a wary eye on Chloe, he addressed the issue. “Look, Lois, I need you to keep her away from me until we figure out what’s wrong.”

 

“With what?” Lois asked, before adding sarcastically. “A tranquilliser gun?”

 

“Please.” He begged.

 

“Fine.” She rolled her eyes. “Now get back out on the field.” Lois handed him a cup for the cooler before heading over to her cousin. “Dear Lord, Chloe,” she muttered as she watched her cousin attempt to high kick. “Please get better soon.”

 

~~~  


Clark rushed to find Lois after she messaged him to meet her at the school. After his run-in with Coach Teague and his body being bruised and bleeding, he had an idea on what exactly was making everyone go psycho. He breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted her, jogging forward to where she was standing.

 

“Lois, I know what’s happening. The cheerleaders are spiking the water cooler at practice. That’s why Chloe and the players are acting weird. I think they might be using meteor rock.” In fact, he knew that they were using meteor rock, still remembering the feeling of swallowing it; It had felt like a thousand knives stabbing him from the inside out repeatedly.

 

Lois smiled proudly at him. “Good job, Nancy Drew.” She slugged his shoulder before motioning for him to walk with her. “You want to know what else they’re using besides meteor rock?”

 

“You mean,” he gasped sarcastically, “you did some investigating?”

 

“My cousin goes Martha Stewart without the jail time?” She rolled her eyes, handing him a file. “Yeah, suddenly the power of the press interests me. Look what I found.”

 

He frowned as he looked over the papers she handed him. “Mandy and Rhonda did a science fair project together. So?”

 

“That’s our smoking gun. According to the chemistry teacher, they researched a hormone called phenylethylamine.

 

His frown deepened until he got to the last page in the file. “The love molecule. So it’s a love potion?”

 

“Exactly.” She grinned. “But it didn’t work.”

 

“Until they added in the meteor rock.” He finished, slamming the folder shut. “We have to find a way to reverse the effect.”

 

“Well, it must wear off at some point. Otherwise they wouldn’t keep juicing the football players.”

 

“We don’t have enough time. What if another player goes into a jealous rage and hurts someone?”

 

Lois paused. “Wait a minute. You drank some of it too. I saw you. How come you’re not going all love slave?”

 

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. Truth was, he had been affected by the drink, just not in the normal way. Instead of turning into a devoted love puppy, he had just gotten sick and momentarily lost his powers until it had left his system. But he wasn’t about to explain that to Lois. “Let’s just be glad that I’m not. What’s your point, anyway?”

 

“Mandy has the science report. Presumably it can tell us how to reverse this right? And presumably, you’re infected.” Lois simpered, taking a step forward and walking her fingers up Clark’s chest, watching as he became increasingly uncomfortable. Flustered, Clark reached up to remove her hand from him.

 

“What are you thinking, Lois?” He gulped, his hand resting on top of hers, prepared to remove it.

 

Lois smirked. “The cheerleaders are having a pool party tonight.” She moved closer to him, eyes flicking as she blatantly perused his body. “How do you look in a swimsuit, Clark?”

 

~~~

 

Lois dragged Clark into the pool room, watching as the players doted on their cheerleader girlfriends. “Okay, Clark. Faux Prada bag, folder, show time.”

 

“Lois,” he protested, “I don’t think…”

 

“Go!” She shoved him forward, rolling her eyes as he resisted. “Go, Clark!” She said, pushing him one more time.

 

“Okay, okay!”

 

Shuffling forward nervously, he send one last glance at Lois before turning towards where Mandy was standing and put on what he hoped was a lovesick smile. “Hi, Mandy!”

 

Mandy simpered upon seeing him, putting her drink down and stepping closer to him. “Hey, Clark, welcome to the party.”

 

Lois was barely able to contain her laughter as she tried to get to the bag, unable to believe that Mandy was buying Clark’s horrible acting skills. The noise unfortunately attracted Mandy’s attention, and Clark had to grab onto her shoulders and kiss her to keep her from spotting his partner in crime.

 

“I’m devoted to you.” Clark said in explanation, almost questioningly, as Mandy smiled at him.

 

Lifting up the front of his shirt, Mandy looked him up and down before shrugging and grabbing his hand. “Yeah, I can work with this.”

 

The cheerleader began to drag Clark out of the room, causing Clark to whip his head around to find Lois. “Lois!” He hissed.

 

Lois gestured for him to keep following Mandy, Clark barely suppressing a groan as she dragged him into the weight room. He was about to ask her why she had brought them there when her lips were on his. Clark’s eyes were wide as she pushed him against a weight machine, hands travelling under his shirt.

 

Meanwhile, Lois snuck into the room, grimacing when she saw Mandy kissing Clark. He was so going to hold this plan over her head forever if they didn’t get the folder soon. There was no way that he was going to let this go, not with him having to make out with Dr. Cheerleader.

 

“Oh, you’re so strong.” Mandy cooed.

 

“Y-You’re so beautiful.” He stuttered in reply.

 

Lois moued from where she was hiding. “And I’m so grossed out!” Her expression darkened further when Clark’s towel landed on her head. When combined with the shuffling noises she heard and Clark’s surprised squeak, Mandy was clearly in the fast lane.

 

“So, tell me.” Mandy ordered as she straddled Clark. “If you like me so much, what are you going to do for me?”

 

“I’ll buy you dinner?” He questioned, changing his answer when he caught sight of Lois’ unimpressed face. “I’ll cook! I’ll cook you dinner.”

 

“Oh, that is so hot.” Mandy said before continuing her assault.

 

Carefully, Clark slid the bag off her shoulder and tossed it to Lois, nearly crying in relief when he saw Lois begin to crawl towards the bag. The sooner she got the bag, the sooner he could get out of here.

 

“You seem distracted.” Mandy pouted.

 

“I’m just nervous.” Clark lied. “I’ve, um, never done what I think we’re about to do before.”

 

Mandy dragged him towards the desk, Clark’s eyes widening as she picked up the bag. Thinking quickly, he grabbed the bag again, dropping it below the desk where Lois was hiding. 

 

“Ow!” Lois swore under her breath as the bag hit her head.

 

“What?” Mandy asked, removing her lips from Clark’s at the noise.

 

Lois rolled her eyes as Clark attempted to distract Mandy by moaning badly, her facial expressions freezing when Clark’s shirt dropped on her head. Shaking horrid images of Clark and Mandy out of her head, Lois scurried out of the weight room, bag in hand, closing the door to the next room behind her quietly.

 

“So gross.” She shuddered as she took the folder out of her bag. “Alright, let’s see what the psycho cheerleaders cooked up.”

 

Lois was just about to get to the part on the cure when Chloe came up behind her, whacking her with a wrench. “Chloe, what the hell?” Lois exclaimed.

 

Chloe growled at her cousin. “I know what you’re up to!” She swung again, this time Lois dodging her blow. “I went through this with Lana and I’m not gonna go through it with you!”

 

“Do what?” Lois yelled as she continued blocking Chloe’s swings.

 

“Steal Clark!”

 

“Chloe, this is stupid!” Lois whipped around as Chloe swung at her again, catching her cousin’s arm. “I don’t want to hurt you!”

 

“Too late, you already did!”

 

Groaning, Lois spun around and kicked Chloe, accidentally knocking her against the boiler. “Oh, sorry!” She exclaimed as she realised where Chloe had landed. “Sorry, sorry, sorry! Are you okay, Chlo?”

 

Chloe grabbed her head. “Yeah.” She muttered. “What happened? What’s going on?”

 

“Come on,” Lois said, helping her cousin up. “We need to go rescue Clark.”

 

Mandy’s hands were moving towards Clark’s swimsuit as she remained straddling him. “So, how far do you want to go here?”

 

Clark stuttered in reply, his shoulder’s visibly heaving in relief as Lois spoke up. “Right about there would be great, thanks.”

 

Mandy climbed off of Clark and he took the proffered escape, scampering towards Chloe and Lois after grabbing his shirt off of the floor.

 

“I can’t believe you, Clark.” Mandy huffed.

 

“Oh, please!” Lois interjected. “Do you know how pathetic it is that you had to resort to chemicals to control your boyfriends?”

 

“I’m sick of being a distant second to a football.”

 

“So you created a bunch of psycho nutjobs.” Lois deadpanned before glance at Chloe. “No offence.”

 

“None taken.” Chloe replied.

 

“What took you so long?” Clark asked as he pulled his shirt over his head.

 

“Oh!” Chloe blushed. “She was attacked by a, uh, crazy plumber.”

 

“Did you find a cure?” He queried.

 

“We worked out our own experiment.” Lois replied. “I accidentally burned her on a furnace.”

 

“So it’s heat.”

 

“Uh, guys?” Chloe asked. “Where’d Mandy go?”

 

“Oh, nice, Clark.” Lois stated impassively. “You know, you only had one thing to do.”

 

“Me? You’re closer to the door?”

 

“Okay, so it’s automatically my fault?”

 

“Uh, guys?” Chloe urged. “Guys!”

 

Lois and Clark turned to find Mandy back in the room, this time with a posse of devoted footballers.

 

“Oh hey,” Lois greeted, “we were just talking about you.”

 

“Yeah? Well, now you’re gonna wish you never crossed me.”

 

Lois rolled her eyes. “What are you going to do, cheer us to death?”

 

Clark gulped as his teammates stood protectively behind Mandy. “Let’s get out of here. Come on, Lois.”

 

She ignored Clark, choosing instead to stand her ground. “Bring it on, hotshot.”

 

One of the football players lunged towards her, Lois effectively dodging his swing and kicking him, causing him to tumble back towards the other players. In desperation, Clark looked around for some source of heat as the players began to threaten Lois. Eyes landing on the water pipes above them, Clark focused his heat vision, steam filling the room as he burst the pipe.

 

“Okay, what the hell was that?” Lois asked.

 

Clark shrugged. “I guess the pipe must’ve broken or something. Pretty lucky, huh?”

 

~~~

 

Lois watched happily the next day as Clark successfully brought the team to victory. She and Chloe had come out to support him, Chloe to also apologise for her behaviour over the past few days. Eventually the festivities from the win died down, Clark disappearing into the locker room with his elated teammates before appearing back out on the field not much later, changed, with his duffle bag in hand.

 

With a gentle, encouraging nudge from her cousin, Chloe ran forward and Lois watched as Clark easily forgave Chloe for her Stepford moment. Maybe now that it was all out there, Lois hoped, Chloe would finally be able to move on from her childhood crush. Chloe and Clark were the best of friends, and it would be a shame if their friendship was damaged due to unrequited feelings. Lois could see why her cousin fell for Clark. She didn’t understand it at first, when she had received the constant calls and emails detailing Chloe’s broken heart, but after spending time with him, Lois could see the appeal. Clark was a genuinely good guy, and there were few of those to go around.

 

Chloe exited the field with a wave to both of them, so Lois sped up to catch up with Clark. “So, that was some throw, farm boy. I guess bailing hay does the body some good.”

 

Clark rolled his eyes at his sarcastic housemate. “Thanks, Lois. So, any luck with Met U?”

 

Lois sighed dejectedly. “Unfortunately, I’m going to have to reapply and wait for next year. I talked to the dean and even though he apologised for the paperwork mishap, they already filled my spot with someone from the waiting list.”

 

“Are you sure you don’t want me to go to Lex?”

 

She shook her head. “No way. I’m a Lane, we do things ourselves.”

 

“There’s nothing wrong with accepting help.”

 

“Yeah, help that isn’t Luthor blood money. I know he helped my cousin, but I don’t trust him. And besides, this way, I get to spend the whole rest of the year annoying you.”

 

Clark groaned as he trudged along next to Lois. “Damn, guess you found out my real reason for offering to go to Lex; I just can’t wait to get rid of you.”

 

“Oh, don’t worry, Smallville.” Lois teased, punching his arm. “I’m not going anywhere.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know what I've always found confusing on this show? People just go, 'hey, let's add some random space rock to things, what could possibly go wrong with this unknown mineral and it's dubious effects on the human body.' Like seriously?
> 
> Anyway, this is obviously where it starts to go AU. I personally think the next chapter is a beauty, but then again, I wrote it, so I'm a bit biased.
> 
> Let me know what you think!


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois and Clark take care of the farm.

The sun was rising high in the sky as Clark stood at the entrance to the cow shed, his figure framed by the rising sun behind him. Normally, Clark would have been finished with his chores by now. It was easy; His father took the chores that required going slowly, such as milking the cows, and Clark sped through those that could be done at super speed. However, his parents were out of town this weekend at the quarterly farming convention in Granville. Usually, Clark would have gone along with them and they would have driven back late at night to not be missing from the farm, but his mom had convinced his father that he shouldn’t drag both Clark and Lois along, and that Clark was perfectly capable of taking care of the farm overnight so that they didn’t have to drive back late when they were tired. And Clark would have been perfectly capable of taking care of the farm himself for two days. Oh, he would have probably had to fake more work so that Lois wouldn’t get suspicious, but Clark would have been done by now if it hadn’t been for Lois insisting that she pull her own weight.

 

As stubborn as she was tenacious, Clark eventually gave in to her help offerings, and said that he would show her how to milk the cows. That’s how he found himself currently watching Lois attempt to milk their bull. He really should have interrupted by now and told her that her quest for milk was fruitless, but he was enjoying watching her frustration too much to do the honourable thing. Her hair that she had carefully braided that morning was falling out of its style, loose strands framing her face and clinging slightly to forehead in the late autumn heat. She had stolen one of his shirts that morning, and in the time that Clark had been tending to the pastures, had knotted it under her ribs, her trademark jeans slung low on her hips. He watched as she swore under her breath, the Kent’s prize bull being oddly patient with Lois’ inexperienced manhandling. Maybe the bull was as mesmerised with the humorous scene as Clark was.

 

“God dammit, why am I not getting any milk?” Lois exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustration.

 

Clark couldn’t hold back a laugh as she kicked the milking stool away, standing up in a huff. Her glare at his intrusion only served to deepen his laughter, tears forming in his eyes as he tried regain control. “I’m sorry, Lois.” He apologised, his voice hiccupping with lingering laughter. “It’s just… You’re trying to milk a bull.”

 

“I’m what? I’ll have you know I’m using the exact same technique I used on all your other cows that you showed me this morning and they’re no worse for wear! Well, sort of. Betsy is a big scarred.”

 

Her arms were crossed defiantly and Clark couldn’t resist teasing her. “Well, farm girl,” he teased, eyes twinkling as he eyed his stolen wardrobe, “You were just attempting to milk a bull, a male cow. The other cows, the female cows, are called heifers. That one’s our bull.”

 

“Are you fucking kidding me?” She deadpanned, watching as Clark struggled to contain his glee. “You couldn’t have told me that earlier, Farmer John?”

 

“Lois, Farmer John is my father.”

 

Lois rolled her eyes, abandoning the bull and marching over to sock Clark in his arm. “Smart ass.”

 

“I learned from the best.”

 

With another eye roll, she pushed past him towards the house. “You can do all that on your own tomorrow!”

 

“Don’t worry, Lois! I was already planning to!”

 

Her growl of frustration could be heard as the kitchen door slammed shut, and Clark finally let loose his residual peals of laughter. This was going to be an interesting weekend.

 

~~~

 

“Alright, Smallville, I have a plan!” Lois announced as she plopped down on the couch, bottle of vodka in hand. 

 

Clark groaned from where he was washing the dishes—his punishment for letting Lois attempt to milk the bull. Lois and plans normally meant painful or embarrassing situations for him. The sun had set a while ago, Clark having successfully made them both dinner, heeding Chloe’s warning about Lois’ cooking skills. He had been hoping that he could slip out to the barn after dinner, having cottoned on earlier in the day by Lois’ gleeful mood that she had something planned for their evening activities. And Clark didn’t think that it would be watching a movie.

 

“What, Lois?” He asked as he walked into the living room, stomach dropping as his eyes landed on the handle of vodka and accompanying shot glasses. “Lois, no.” It wasn’t that Clark exactly feared drinking in case he revealed more than he would want to. No, Clark knew from his adventures in Metropolis that one summer that alcohol didn’t really affect him. But he had a feeling that he would have trouble explaining his tolerance to Lois.

 

“Oh, come on, Smallville, it will be fun.” She whined, pouring a healthy splash of the liquid into the awaiting glasses. “We’ll have a bit of vodka, play a few games, learn more about each other! Besides, you’re a senior in high school, you have to experiment with alcohol at least once.”

 

Clark frowned as he glared at her. “I’ve had alcohol before, Lois.”

 

“Oh yeah, why don’t I believe you!”

 

“I have!” He protested. Copious amounts actually. “I’ve been to parties before! I even hosted one!”

 

Her eyebrow raised at his admittance. “Oh, really?” She questioned. “Is this another one of those skeletons in the eagle scout’s closet?”

 

Taking his grumbling reply as not only admittance, but acceptance, Lois handed him an overflowing shot glass with a grin. “Bottoms up!” She cheered as they clinked their glasses.

 

The burn of the alcohol was familiar as it passed down Clark’s throat. He swallowed smoothly, closing his eyes as he waited for the sensation to pass. Lois eyed her drinking partner carefully as he easily downed his shot. So it appeared that the eagle scout really did have more than a few skeletons in the closet. With that in mind, she perused through her mental list of drinking games before deciding on a classic.

 

With an evil glint in her eyes, Lois smirked as she poured them both another shot. “Alright, Clark, let’s play ‘I never.’ Every time you’ve done something, you take a shot. I’ll go first.” 

 

Clark groaned internally as he watched her eyes glimmer, fingers playing with the edge of her shot glass as her lips twitched up devilishly. This game was going to be hell.

 

“Never have I ever,” she mused, “driven a tractor.”

 

“Lois!”

 

“What? We’ve got to start off slow before we get to the juicy stuff!”

 

Rolling his eyes, Clark downed his shot before pouring himself another. He was incredibly glad for his steel constitution at the moment if Lois was going to be pulling cheap shots like that. “Never have I ever lived on an army base.”

 

Her eyes narrowed momentarily before she raised her glass in salute. “Touché, Smallville, touché.” She knocked the shot back with a slight gasp as the alcohol burned her throat. Refilling her glass, she smiled evilly at her drinking companion. “Alright, Smallville. Now we get onto the juicy stuff.”

 

The game continued on, the questions slowly getting into more uncomfortable, raunchier territory. Clark leaned back against his side of the couch, watching as Lois loosened up, the alcohol turning her cheeks rosy and causing her chest to become flushed. He had never seen her this open before as they both spilled tidbits about their childhoods. When the subject of stealing came up, Clark had briefly told her about his time in Metropolis, surprised that Lois was incredibly compassionate about the issue, in turn speaking about her own runaway story. Not nearly as successful as Clark’s, she had begrudgingly admitted, but it was pretty hard to get off an army base alone as a minor. However, the sentiment behind the story was still there. Lois understood, in a way no one else Clark had met did, how it felt to feel alone, to feel as if the weight of the world was on your shoulders. For him it was his less than Earthly origins, and for her it was being an army brat, raising her younger sister, being dragged around like a spare piece of luggage for most of her childhood.

 

“Alright, Smallville,” Lois spoke, her words slurring slightly. They had been at this game for hours and after Lois had finally sussed out of Clark that he was, in fact, a virgin—that had led to an embarrassing conversation about her first time and how apparently awful it was—Clark was more than eager for a new tract to their evening. “How are you not drunk right now?”

 

“Lois,” he smirked, “I did tell you that I have drunk before.”

 

“Yeah, but I’m Lois Lane! I’ve drunk vodka with Russian generals, black and tans with—“

 

“British batallions. Yes, Lois, I listened the first time.”

 

“Good.” She replied, completely missing his dry tone, before knocking back another shot. “But even I’m tipsy! How are you not?”

 

“Well, Lois, I am bigger than you.” He replied pragmatically. “It’s bound to take more to get me drunk.”

 

She frowned, leaning over to grab the half empty bottle of vodka from its position on the coffee table. “Drink up, Smallville.”

 

Clark blinked as the handle was shoved into his face, the clear liquid sloshing about from the sudden movement. He pried it from her hands before indulging her, taking a swig directly from the bottle. He winced as it went down. Alcohol didn’t hold the same appeal to him as it did to everyone else. Especially shots. It didn’t taste good normally and he couldn’t get drunk, so what was the point?

 

He lowered the bottle back to the table, nearly jumping as he noticed that Lois hadn’t taken her gaze off of him. “What?”

 

“What are you hiding, Smallville?” She queried innocently, crawling across the couch.

 

“N-nothing.” He stuttered, backing up flush against the arm of the couch as Lois invaded his personal space, straddling his waist to sit in his lap.

 

She looked at him curiously, hands resting on his chest as her somehow still bright eyes looked at him. She didn’t look drunk, her eyes still looking clear and cognisant of her actions. Clark, however,was fairly certain that if she was sober, she wouldn’t have planted herself so willingly in his lap. He gulped as her hands played with the hair at the nape of his neck. She may annoy him to no ends, use all of the hot water, and have stolen his bed, but Lois was still female, and a very attractive one at that. And while Clark may not be human, he was still male and Lois’s current position could get really awkward really fast.

 

“No, I know that look.” She pondered, eyes still searching his insistently. “That look in your eyes as you were drinking. I get that look. That same look was the one that led to me starting smoking and dying my hair.” She frowned as she pulled her hands out of his hair, her fingers tracing a path down his neck and across his shoulders until they stilled to rest once again on his chest. “It’s wishing that if you ignore it, if you do enough stupid things, drink enough alcohol, run far enough away, that the pain will go away and that you won’t have to deal with reality, even though you know that inevitably, you will.”

 

“Lois…” He stammered, stunned at her insightfulness.

 

“No, it’s okay.” She silenced him with a finger to his lips. “You don’t have to tell me all about it. But if you ever need someone to talk to, I’m here.” Shrugging, she wrapped her arms around his torso and pulled herself against him.

 

His eyes widened in shock as he felt her press her cheek against his chest and sigh. She was so warm against him, her body practically thrumming from the alcohol she had ingested earlier. Tentatively, he returned the embrace, wrapping his arms around her, one hand on her upper back, one on her lower back. “Uh… Lois?”

 

“I just think you need a hug, Clark.” She explained. “You’re good, I’ll tell you that, but from a fellow emotional wall-builder, I know that you’re hurting inside.” Her head pushed into his pectorals as she nodded and Clark gulped visibly at the feel of her against him. “It’s okay, I am too.” She continued, oblivious to his discomfort. “It’s okay to hurt. You don’t need to be the nice Kent boy with me, Clark. I’m not like the rest of this town.”

 

Flabbergasted, Clark took a few deep breaths before speaking. “I know, Lois. I know.” 

 

“Oh, and Smallville?”

 

“Yes, Lois?”

 

“You let anyone know about this little heart-to-heart, and you won’t live to graduation.”

 

“Yes, Lois.” He chuckled. Letting his head rest against hers, he sighed as her steady breathing indicated that she had fallen asleep on him. Clark shuffled against the couch to get more comfortable, being careful not to stir her. She’d probably give him hell in the morning when she woke up on top of him, but she felt too good curled around him for Clark to move her right now. And he really, really didn’t want to think about the reasoning behind that. So instead he got comfortable himself, letting the steady beat of her heart lull him to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always thought that we were missing some quality Lois and Clark time unsupervised on the show. This was my interpretation on what could have happened.
> 
> In other news, I got accepted into my first choice PhD program for clinical psychology so I'll be back in the states after I graduate undergrad and hopefully killing it! The only downside of that is that I'll have to directly deal with Trump, but then at least I'll get to call every senator incessantly until they grow spines.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mikhail makes an appearance in Smallville.

Clark couldn’t get Lois’ words out of his head after their weekend alone at the farm, and while Lois’ awkward behaviour around him indicated that she remembered their conversation as well, they never got the chance to talk about it. First, Clark discovered a boy who could run faster than him on a trip to Metropolis with his father, then Clark changed places with Lionel Luthor for a terrifying several hours and when he finally did get transferred back into his own body, he spent most of the next day apologising to people about things that he didn’t do, but couldn’t explain.

 

Safe to say, there wasn’t time for Clark to bring up that while tipsy, Lois felt safe enough around him to not only open up, but to fall asleep on him. Especially considering that Lois was avoiding the topic like the plague.

 

He sighed as he walked up the steps to the house, knowing that he was going to be in for a lecture as soon as he opened the front door. What his parents had feared would happen from the moment Clark had defied Jonathan and joined the football team had happened—Clark tripped and stumbled into a player on the opposing team, breaking his collarbone in two places. These past few weeks just weren’t going his way.

 

Thing was, Clark knew that something fishy was going on. The only time he had ever tripped in his life was in the presence on meteor rock. And there hadn’t been any of the green poison anywhere near the field; Clark would have felt it.

 

“You know, Son,” Jonathan spoke the moment Clark entered the kitchen. Martha had busied herself at the stove, not wanting to interfere with the father-son talk. “There’s more to life than championships.”

 

Frustrated, Clark dropped his gear on the floor before moving to grab the orange juice from the fridge. “I bet that’s easier to say when you have on.” He grumbled, taking a swig out of the carton before turning to face his father. “Dad, when I put on that uniform, it’s like I forget who I am. But at the same time, I’ve never know myself better. It’s more than just a game.”

 

“Clark,” Jonathan replied sternly. “I allowed you to join the football team because I thought you understood your responsibility not to let anybody get hurt out there.”

 

“I have accepted that responsibility!” Clark exploded, the tension from the past weeks being unleashed. “I know that I can control my abilities, Dad, I do it on a daily basis! Every hug, every handshake, I have to make a conscious decision to hold back on my strength not to hurt someone. Hell, I have to be constantly aware of Lois so that if she decides to punch me, I can flinch and not hurt her with my immovable body! I can control my abilities.”

 

“Then why don’t you explain to me why there’s a kid lying in a hospital bed right now?” Jonathan replied, voice softer than before.

 

“Have you ever seen me trip, Dad? Mom? Ever?” Clark waited for either of his parents to reply, only to find them both averting their gazes. “Something happened out on the field. I couldn’t control my own legs.”

 

“Just because you’re strong does not mean you can’t get rattled out there—“

 

“Dad!” Clark yelled in rage, surprising both of his parents. “I’ve had more intense games than that. And as soon as I see someone about to tackle me or accidentally hit me, I bend with them so that they don’t get hurt. I have enough enhanced senses that I can do that even in my sleep. Look, I get that this is just you being the concerned parent, but I need you to trust your son. Something happened on the field and as I felt myself trip, I couldn’t do what I normally do to make sure that he didn’t get hurt. My body wasn’t under my own control.”

 

Jonathan fell silent as Martha fiddled with various pans, Clark never removing his gaze from his father. Lois stumbled into the farmhouse at that moment, laughing from her conversation with Chloe after the game. She stilled as the somber, stiff atmosphere of the kitchen, so contrary to the normal warmth and love she felt upon entering the farmhouse, surrounded her.

 

“Everything okay in here?” She questioned, eyes volleying as she tried to follow the non-verbals between father and son.

 

“Everything’s fine.” Clark replied rigidly. He spared a glance at Lois before turning and storming out towards the barn.

 

“Okay…” Lois said, catching Martha’s gaze.

 

The elder woman sighed, motioning to Lois that she needed to talk to her husband. Getting the hint, Lois swiftly exited the kitchen that she had just entered, making her way outside. She debated on just leaving Clark alone and going to some other location, but after their alcohol-induced heart-to-heart, she had a feeling that if the tense situation she had walked in on was to be resolved, she would have to talk to Clark, just as Martha was talking to Jonathan.

 

As she walked up to the barn, Lois thought about the only other times she had seen the loving family at odds with each other. There was the brief moment when his parents found out about them investigating the safe house, but the moment that truly rivalled this moment was right after Clark had joined the football team. Clark and his father rarely butted heads, but when they did, it left everyone in the house feeling incredibly uncomfortable for days. There was clearly a piece to the puzzle that Lois didn’t know, but if she had to bet, it had everything to do with the family’s non-verbals and the fact that the kid Clark had tumbled into had a broken collar bone.

 

“Smallville?” Lois called as she walked up to the loft to find Clark at the windowsill, hands gripping tightly onto the wooden frame.

 

“What, Lois?” He asked gruffly, not bothering to face her.

 

“Just wanted to see if you’re okay. It looked like you and your dad were having a pretty intense conversation there.” She plopped down onto the couch, knowing that she’d have to wait if she wanted Clark to open up.

 

He sighed, running both his hands through his hair before settling them on his face. His voice was muffled as he spoke through his hands, his frustration evident. “We were talking about the game.”

 

“And the kid with a collarbone broken in two places?”

 

“Yes.” He bit. “Dad… He didn’t believe me when I said that I wasn’t in control of my own body. I was tripping and stumbling and there was nothing I could even do to brace for the fall. It was like my mind was saying something—“

 

“And your body was doing another?”

 

Clark’s brow puzzled as she completed his statement. “Yeah. How’d you know?”

 

“Chloe mentioned something about the school’s new bookie. She bet that you’d win the game.” Lois rolled her eyes, ignoring Clark’s shocked look at the idea of Chloe gambling. “She is part Lane, Smallville. We’ve been known to gamble.”

 

“I know that.”

 

“Anyway, she mentioned that when he stopped by the Torch to give her her winnings, she kissed him. I think he’s the foreign exchange student, what’s his name, Mikhail?”

 

“She kissed him?”

 

“Yeah, she was pretty grossed out when she told me, so I distracted her by taking her to the victory party. But how she described it was that he ordered her to kiss him and she said it was like her mind was sending one message but her body was getting another.”

 

“Well, that’d be useful if Chloe was talking to me at the moment.”

 

Lois sighed. “Look, Clark, this town is weird, Chloe knows that. Everyone knows you weren’t exactly yourself a few days ago, even if we don’t know why. She’ll get over it. Plus, I think a little investigative reporting will thaw her real fast.”

 

“So what are you saying, that we investigate this?”

 

“Well, you tripped and nearly rammed through another player and Chloe kissed this bookie creep. I’d say that they’re probably related, seeing as he’s the bookie for the football games. Now, I’m not my cousin, but that sounds suspect to me.” She shrugged. “So what do you say we stop by the Torch tomorrow?”

 

Clark grinned. “Kent, Lane and Sullivan investigate for the truth?”

 

“Please, Clark, it’s Lane, first.”

 

Clark laughed as she slugged his shoulder, walking about of the barn with her. “Yes, but my way is alphabetical.”

 

Lois rolled her eyes. “Please, Smallville, we all know that I will always come first. Kent and Lane doesn’t have the same ring to it as Lane and Kent.”

 

“Whatever you say, Lois, whatever you say.”

 

~~~

 

The next day, Lois and Clark walked into the Torch, Clark attempting miserably to hide his large frame behind Lois as Chloe came into sight. Rolling her eyes, Lois dragged him out from behind her.

 

“Smallville, my cousin isn’t going to kill you.”

 

“Are you sure about that, Lois? She is part Lane.”

 

Punching his arm, she replied. “Yes, Smallville. Chloe?” She asked, her cousin looking up at them. “Are you going to kill Clark?” The blonde shook her head no, causing Lois to grin. “See, Smallville, now that we’ve ascertained that Chloe won’t kill you, let’s solve this mind-body thing.”

 

“Lois!” Chloe accused. “You told him?”

 

“I had to, Chlo! The same thing happened to him at the game.”

 

“Really?” Chloe asked, looking to Clark for confirmation.

 

“Really.”

 

“Well,” Chloe replied, “I’ve done a bit of research into our new resident puppet master, Mikhail Mxyzptlk. Say that three times fast.” She gestured them over to the computer, showing them what her search had revealed. “Searching his last name didn’t bring anything up, but his last name in reverse did.”

 

“What the hell is that?” Lois asked, looking at the distressing image on the screen.

 

“It looks like a nursery rhyme gone bad.” Clark commented.

 

Chloe agreed. “It’s some legend from the Piatore region in the Balkans, which is coincidentally where Mikhail is from.”

 

“It says the region has been terrorised for centuries by a bloodline of people who have… who can control the hand of luck.” Clark frowned as he read the page.

 

“It’s not exactly luck if they’re controlling people.” Lois scoffed.

 

“Apparently,” Chloe continued reading, “the family changed their name a century ago and fled the area to escape the stigma after the village mysteriously burned to the ground.”

 

“Looks like Mikhail’s running from his heritage.” Lois said, frowning as she saw Clark visibly stiffen at her words. She peered over to look at the screen, deciding to ignore Clark’s odd behaviour for the time being. “Look, according to legend, the only thing that stopped them was a plague of locusts.”

 

“How are we going to get a plague of locusts?” Clark asked, groaning in frustration. “Especially before the championships?”

 

“Look, Lois and I will look into the locust thing, why don’t you go talk to Lex. Mikhail’s a LuthorCorp exchange student.”

 

Clark swiftly exited the room and Lois watched him curiously. Between the scene that she had walked in on last night and Clark’s visible reaction to mentioning running away from one’s heritage, something was going on. Lois had always thought that Clark was a little odd, after all, she had met him whilst he was stark naked in a cornfield. Things didn’t add up about him, but Lois hadn’t bothered to concern herself with the mysteries of Clark Kent because at the end of the day, he was a good guy. But now, it seemed as if the mystery that constantly surrounded him was affecting him negatively. And as much as she may rib the farm boy, she did care about him. Something was going on, and Lois wanted to know what it was that made Clark so visibly upset and disturbed.

 

“Hello? Earth to Lois?” Chloe spoke, waving her hand in front of Lois’ face. She chuckled as Lois startled at the motion. “You okay there, Cous?”

 

“Yeah…” Lois responded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

 

“Nothing to do with being concerned about a certain six foot three farm boy?”

 

Lois scowled at her cousin. “I said that I was fine, Chloe.”

 

Chloe raised her hands in innocence. “I know what you said. I’m just saying that you’re clearly concerned about Clark.”

 

“Chlo, you didn’t see the aftermath of that stumble. I walked in on a really intense moment at the farm and I’m not quite sure what to make of it. So what if I worry for Clark? He is my friend.”

 

Chloe smirked at Lois’ denial. She may not have handled seeing the obvious connection between Lois and Clark well at first, but having had time to get used to it, as well as witness just how much they stood by each other, especially when Lois immediately forgave and believed Clark when he claimed that he wasn’t himself a few weeks ago, Chloe had grown used to it. There was definitely something between her cousin and best friend, and she would be selfish if she stood in the way because of her own unrequited feelings. At least, if the two most stubborn people she knew ever acted on their obvious chemistry. “Sure, Lois, sure.”

 

~~~

 

His hands trembled as he pulled his shoulder pads on over his head, securing the useless padding, well for him anyway, around his body before he pulled his jersey over it. He took a deep breath as he grabbed his helmet, closing his eyes for a moment of calm. Clark knew that he needed to be calm when he stepped back on the field. Chloe had discovered that locusts emitted a certain frequency that, while not audible to humans, disrupted Mikhail’s powers. Lois had then snuck onto base and borrowed a frequency jammer, which they were currently hooking up to the sound system so that it would interfere with Mikhail’s ability to control the hand of luck. He just had to trust that their plan would work and that Clark would remain in control of his body.

 

“All right, let’s go!” Coach Quigley yelled, shaking Clark out of his thoughts.

 

He followed after his teammates to the tunnel that lead to the field, only to be stopped by his father. “Clark!” Jonathan called, a frown on his face.

 

“Dad,” Clark groaned. “Lois, Chloe and I think we found a way to stop Mikhail. Mom understands, why can’t you?”

 

“Clark, a bunch of 250-pound guys banging into each other on a football field is one thing. But getting hit by you is like getting run over by a freight train. It’s a bit different, son.”

 

“Dad, I know you don’t agree with me, but sometimes, taking responsibility means having faith in yourself to make the hard choices.”

 

Jonathan’s frown deepened. “And it also means being willing to accept the consequences.”

 

“Look, as much as you try, you can’t understand the responsibility that I face on a daily basis just to not hurt people doing the simplest things. No matter how hard you try, you can’t understand that. That’s why it’s my decision, not yours. I have faith in my abilities and my control. I have faith in my friends to stop Mikhail. And I’m not about to let Mikhail keep me off the field or push me into forfeiting the game because that means that he wins.”

 

A small smile cracked Jonathan’s grim appearance at his son’s words. “You’re starting to sound more and more like your father.”

 

Clark smiled back. “I hope so, Dad.”

 

He jogged quickly onto the field to catch up with his teammates, putting his helmet on as the announcer called out his arrival. The next thing Clark knew, the game had started and everything was going smoothly. He wasn’t tripping, he wasn’t choking, nothing bad was happening and every movement he made was under his own control. Clark breathed a sigh of relief as the team huddled for the next play; Chloe and Lois had everything under control.

 

The game was close. The two teams had remained within touchdowns of each other the whole time, going back and forth with holding the lead. There was twenty seconds on the clock and the crows now had possession of the ball. This was the play that would determine whether or not they were state champions.

 

“Clark.” Mikhail said from behind the bench just as they were being sent back out onto the field.

 

Clark whipped around to face his enemy, Mikhail’s ears covered in blood from the frequency jammer. “What are you doing here?”

 

Mikhail smirked as he held up Chloe’s press pass. “Here’s how the last play in my game works. If the crows go out there and score one more touchdown, your friends, blonde journalist and mouthy army brat, are dead. If you don’t go back out on the field right now, they’re dead.”

 

“Come on, Kent, let’s go!” Jason called.

 

Clark shook his head before making his way onto the field and calling out the play. Quickly x-raying to find Lois and Chloe tied up in the basement, he threw the ball towards the receiver, the world blurring to almost a stand still as Clark sped off the field and towards the basement. In the blink of an eye, Clark untied Chloe and Lois, pushing Mikhail away from them and towards the adjacent wall before speeding back out onto the field before anyone could notice that he had left. Just as Clark got back to the field, the receiver caught the ball in the end zone, scoring a touch down as the clock ticked to zero.

 

“Touchdown!” The announcer yelled. “The crows win! Clark Kent makes another unbelievable play!”

 

Back in the basement, Chloe and Lois looked at each other curiously. Lois sprang to action first, getting in a revenge kick before tying Mikhail up with his own rope while Chloe called the police. Lois smirked as Mikhail whimpered from her rough handling. “That will teach you to mess with Lois Lane.”

 

~~~

 

Lois and Clark were sharing hushed laughter as they made their way into the farmhouse after the victory party. Once Mikhail had been arrested and taken in custody, Chloe and Lois had returned the frequency jammer to the army base before joining Clark at the party. They had returned to find Lana confronting Clark about getting Jason fired, only for Lois to stand up for Clark. When Lana had refused to believe either of them and instead left in a huff, Lois had rolled her eyes and dragged Clark off towards where the rest of the party was happening.

 

_“Come on, Smallville.” Lois said, wrapping her arm around his shoulders and steering him towards the bonfire. “Let her go and get worked up over nothing. It wasn’t you and we know that and that’s all that matters. She’s just looking for someone to blame.”_

 

_“And I was the most convenient candidate?” He questioned, quirking an eyebrow._

 

_“Well, no shit, Sherlock.” She replied dryly, motioning for Chloe to catch up to them. “Ex-boyfriend gets jealous and tells on the illicit relationship?”_

 

_“I’m not a jealous ex.” He frowned. “I’m over Lana.”_

 

_“What’s this?” Chloe asked, eyes twinkling. “Clark Kent is over Lana Lang?”_

 

_Clark rolled his eyes, missing the gentle shove the cousins were giving each other and the annoyed look on Lois’ face in response to Chloe’s gleeful expression. “Yes, I am. Besides, Jason’s a good guy, I’d never get him fired.”_

 

_“Don’t start brooding, farm boy.” Lois quipped, eager to get the subject off of Clark’s ex. “You just won a state championship and we have a party to enjoy. Now, come on, less moping, more celebrating.”_

 

_With that, Lois dragged Chloe off. Clark watched them disappear into the crowd, shaking his head before jogging to catch up with them._

 

“Well, I guess the championship quarterback and his posse don’t have a curfew anymore?” Jonathan smirked at the two giggling co-eds, his smile dimming slightly as he started to worry for the first time about having a girl who wasn’t family staying in the house. Something about how Lois and Clark interacted struck something inside him, reminding him of a time and a feeling that he couldn’t quite place. And while he trusted both his son and Lois, he didn’t trust teenage hormones.

 

“Sorry, Dad—“ Clark started, only to be interrupted.

 

“Posse?” Lois exclaimed. “Mr. Kent, I am not his posse.”

 

“Jonathan,” Martha chided softly, a knowing smile on her face. Unlike her husband, she wasn’t afraid of the obvious spark between their son and houseguest. Lois reminded Martha of herself when she was younger, and had a feeling that a girl like Lois was just what her son needed to break him out of his shell. “Let the kids have their fun.”

 

“A call would have been nice.” Jonathan grumbled.

 

“Sorry, Dad. We’ll call next time.”

 

Jonathan raised an eyebrow at his son’s use of the plural before quickly schooling his features. “Well, good night, kids.” He bade, Martha grabbing his arm and gently tugging him upstairs. “Don’t stay up too late.”

 

Lois and Clark bid his parents goodnight, moving to sit on the couch. The night was quiet as they sat in silence, except for the occasional sounds coming in from the barn.

 

“So,” Lois spoke, breaking the silence. “How does it feel to be the championship quarterback?”

 

Clark grinned beatifically. “Amazing.”

 

She smiled as he went on to tell her about the game that she didn’t get to see due to being in the basement stopping Mikhail, and in return, she told him how she had managed to get a few licks in when fighting Mikhail before he had managed to unplug the jammer and use his abilities on her and Chloe. Their repartee was easy, and the nagging thought in the back of her mind came to the forefront as she thought about her cousin’s words earlier. There was definitely something between her and Clark, but the last thing she wanted to do was explore it. She refused to talk to him about it, but she remembered their weekend alone at the farm all too clearly, and knew just how easily she could fall for the bumbling farm boy if she let herself. But, he was her friend, one of her best friends, and Lois didn’t have a lot of those. She wasn’t about to risk their friendship by listening to the nagging thought in her head.

 

“Well,” she announced, standing up abruptly. “I’m going to go to bed. Don’t let the adrenaline keep you up, Smallville.”

 

“Night, Lois.” Clark called as she began to make her way upstairs, wrapping her arms around her torso protectively as she walked.

 

“Night, Smallville.” She responded as she turned around the corner and disappeared out of sight.

 

Clark stared at where she had just disappeared up the stairs. He couldn’t place Lois. She wasn’t a friend like Chloe, but she wasn’t a childhood crush like Lana. He didn’t know where she fit in his life, he just knew that she did. She was just as complicated and unique as he was, giving him an odd sense of camaraderie, even though he knew that logically, they weren’t at all alike. Lois was something else, and he couldn’t wait to figure out where exactly she fit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note to self: don't go on old message boards that aren't specifically Clois. All you see are Clana fans who hate Lois Lane, want to ignore Superman mythology and somehow think that the unhealthy relationship that was Clana was healthy. 
> 
> Like, I got into Smallville really late and I didn't watch it when it aired the first time around. And there were parts where I didn't hate Lana, though I think her character should have bowed out after their breakup in season 5, after Bizarro at latest. And I also get that the media does portray relationship like that (constant struggle and drama, all the ups and downs) as healthy and if you are young (as the target audience for Smallville was at it's conception) you'd think that that was the epitome of romance? But it's not? With the exception of when Clark was mortal, he and Lana had a super unhealthy relationship? He was never completely comfortable around her, even when she knew his secret, which she was always demanding for. 
> 
> Like honestly, as much as I hated seeing them together in season 7, I liked how Chloe started saying that maybe Lana wasn't the one for Clark and that Clark and Lana had grown distant and Lana's duplicity and unhealthy obsession with Lex started to show (also I really hate when characters become Mary Sues which is what Lana eventually became). The season 8 arc was absolutely stupid and made Lois seem like a second choice, which we all know she wasn't. That's the Superman mythos, get used to it. Lana Lang is supposed to be a high school crush, Lori Lemaris (while not included in the show, closest comparison would be Alicia maybe?) his first real attempt at a relationship, and Lois Lane is the one who is strong enough to stand by him as Superman and is the love of his life? Like, that's it, that's endgame.
> 
> Anyway, it just really bothered me seeing young, impressionable (largely girls) see what was clearly a toxic relationship to somewhat adult, experienced eyes, and try to pass it off as soulmates? Because it wasn't healthy? It was lies and secrets and constantly hurting each other and while no relationship is perfect, the good times should outweigh the bad and relationships should build you up and make you a better person, not hold you back (and for fuck's sake you should be able to tell WHEN YOUR BOYFRIEND IS TAKEN OVER BY AN IMPOSTER AND YOU SHOULDN'T FEEL THE NEED TO CHANGE TO BE WITH HIM BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU FOR WHO YOU ARE). And frankly, after the arc of stupidity I thought Smallville did a decently good job of portraying a healthy romance with Lois and Clark as they went from friends to something more, but still managed to convey Clark's difficulties with sharing his whole self and how he felt comfortable enough that Lois is the only person he's ever told.
> 
> Rant over.
> 
> ANYWAY, hope you like the chapter the next two are particularly big in the plot I weaved. I will be in Berlin next week so the update may be a bit late, but I will update, so don't worry!


	8. Chapter Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isobel makes an appearance in Smallville that coincides with Chloe's 18th birthday party.

Clark had just waved to his parents as they left on a weekend vacation at Lex’s orders when Lois came barrelling up the driveway in an army issued jeep. Eyebrows furrowing as he frowned, Clark watched as she jumped out of the car and immediately opened the trunk, pulling out an overflowing box.

 

“Lois,” Clark teased. “You don’t have more things to move in here, do you? Because at this point, our attic will run out of room and they’ll have to be stored in the barn.”

 

“Ha ha, very funny, Smallville.” Lois replied, shoving the box into his arms. “These are decorations for Chloe’s surprise party. Now hurry up, I need to get the jeep back to the base before my father notices that it’s missing.”

 

Clark’s eyes widened as she put another box on top of the other in his arms. “Lois, I specifically remember saying that we couldn’t have the surprise party in the barn.”

 

“Lighten up, Smallville. I know Lex ordered your mom to take a vacation, but I think we’ll manage without adult supervision.”

 

“Lois, the guy from Princeton is coming tonight!”

 

“It will be fine, boy scout.” She placated, tapping his cheek lightly before grabbing the last box and heading to the barn. “It’s just going to be a couple of people standing around and singing ‘happy birthday,’ It’s not going to be Sodom and Gomorrah. Mr. Ivy League won’t even know we’re here, trust me. Besides, it’s for Chloe’s birthday and you wouldn’t want her to find out that you rained on her parade. Now, chop, chop, Smallville. We’ve got to get this barn decorated and I have to go distract Chloe before little miss reporter has time to investigate.”

 

He groaned as he followed her into the barn, knowing that she had won the argument. Clark could refuse Lois all he wanted, that’s what their relationship was. But Chloe? He would feel awful if he ruined Chloe’s eighteenth birthday and Lois knew it. And thus, she played on his weakness and had won the battle.

 

It was still to be decided who one the war.

 

~~~

 

Clark shuffled uncomfortably in the barn full of people as they waited for the guest of honour to appear. He had received constant texts from Lois to ensure that everything was on track with the party and that he hadn’t ‘fucked up royally’ as she had put it. However, the incessant communication had ended about an hour ago, and Clark had no idea where she was and what was going on. Not only that, but the guy from Princeton would be arriving soon and Clark wanted to be out of the barn with the doors closed behind him well before he arrived. Now if only Lois could get here so that Clark could wish Chloe a happy birthday before preparing for his interview.

 

He was just about to ask Jason if he knew where Lana was when the barn doors clanged open, Lois, Lana and Chloe strutting into the barn. Jaw dropping to the floor, Clark made a conscious effort to collect himself as the people around him yelled surprise, seemingly oblivious to the changes in the three girls. Jason looked worriedly over at Clark, clearly wondering as well what had happened to the three girls in the time that they had been away distracting Chloe. Lana had been acting odd all day, both Jason and Clark could attest to that, however, nothing to explain their sudden change in both attitude and appearance.

 

Lana whined as she surveyed the room. “We don’t have time for this.”

 

“Time is the only thing we do have.” Chloe replied, smirking. “Isn’t that what you said right before the angry mob set us on fire?”

 

“You’re never going to let that go, are you?” Lana whined, only to be ignored by Chloe as she went to mingle with the guests.

 

Taking the opportunity to ask Lois what the hell was going on, Clark grabbed her arm, pulling her aside. “The guy from Princeton’s going to be here any minute. Why are you so late?” He spoke through his teeth, practically seething at her.

 

However, Lois, it seemed, did not pick up on his anger. Instead, she took a step closer, blatantly appraising his body. “I took the scenic route.” She simpered, pressing herself up against him. “Love the view.”

 

Clark gulped, pushing gently against her shoulders to get some space between them. “Have you been drinking?”

 

Lois simply smiled in response, turning to leave. She lingered however, letting her hand trail down his arm before sauntering off to join Chloe and Lana. Clark watched Lois walk away, barely able to shake himself out of the hypnosis her swaying hips sent him into. Mentally berating himself for even looking at her that way, short skirt and all, Clark just managed to notice the three girls come to a decision of some kind before shouting words he didn’t understand. The last thing he had a coherent memory of was a ball of pink energy exploding.

 

Then, everything blurred.

 

Music came out of nowhere, the guests went crazy and once again, Clark found his body out of control. No, this time he wasn’t barrelling into unsuspecting opponents and breaking their collarbones. It was similar to when he was on red k, expect that he wasn’t going against his conscience. He had no care in the world as he danced with his peers, the party guests stripping and going wild, clothing flying left and right. 

 

Somehow, he found himself on the steps to the loft with Lois, dancing awfully as she ground against him. Her eyes contained nothing but lust, and Clark found himself unable to control himself as she turned around, pressing her front against him. One hand grabbed her waist, pulling her flush against him, her eyes fluttering as her hands wrapped around his biceps, and for a second, Clark thought he saw his Lois, not the possessed Lois—and really that was the only explanation for what was happening, but Clark was too far gone at the moment to really question it—who had entered the party. That made what he was about to do even more tempting.

 

Cupping the back of her neck, Clark dragged her forward so that their lips met. The kiss was hurried and lustful and fiery and all-consuming as their lips mashed and their tongues tangoed, so much so that Clark didn’t even notice the admissions officer from Princeton enter the barn and call out his name before leaving, disappointed in the youth.

 

In the back of his head, Clark knew that he shouldn’t be kissing her. Something strange was going on, otherwise none of this would be happening. And while this had definitely solved his question on what he felt about Lois and where she fit in his life, Clark didn’t want to figure out how he felt about Lois because of some possession and he definitely didn’t want their first kiss to be like this; Especially considering that she probably wouldn’t even remember it when this eventually ended.

 

However, as Lois growled and pushed him up against a support beam, pressing her body somehow more against him and wrapping herself around him like a second skin, Clark found that he couldn't care less. So, he resumed kissing her, hands reaching down to cup her ass and bring her in direct contact with his arousal, delighting in her surprised gasp.

 

And then, the world went completely black.

 

~~~

 

The crowing of the rooster woke him up and blinking blearily, Clark took in his surroundings. For an unknown reason, he was lying in hay, surrounded by—was that a bra? And where the hell was his shirt? And his trousers for that matter. Before he could ponder the matter further, his phone rang. 

 

“Hey, Mom.” He answered, glancing uneasily around the barn. “Yeah, how’s Metropolis? Really? I’m glad you’re having a great time.”

 

Managing to find his trousers under a collection of clothing, he tugged them on as he listened absent-mindedly to his mother. “What?” He asked. “Oh, yeah, the guy… The guy from Princeton. I met him last night. Don’t worry. I think I made an impression.”

 

He picked up the bra that he had woken up next too as he hung up his phone. Fuzzy memories from last night inundated his mind; The girls acting strange, dancing with Lois, kissing Lois—Dear God, he had kissed Lois. And it had been unforgettably amazing. Gulping, he tossed the bra down before collapsing back onto the ground, head between his knees. He had no idea what happened after that kiss and he really needed to find out. He’d still had his boxers on so he doubted that anything beyond kissing had happened but… He had woken up next to a bra. And from what little memory he did have, he knew that Lois was the garment’s most logical owner. But before he pondered that further, he really needed to figure out what the hell had caused the party to become Sodom and Gomorrah in the first place, and why Lois, Lana and Chloe were acting so weird.

 

~~~

 

The barn was eerily quiet as Clark waited for the witches to arrive; Even the animals seemed to know that strange happenings were in the air. He had spent all day running after Lois, Chloe and Lana, cleaning up their various messes. When he had arrived just in mind to save Jason from falling out of the window of the Talon, he had received a message from Lana, who he assumed was the head of the trio, ordering him to meet them in his barn at midnight. Clark had overheard enough of Jason and Lana’s conversation to glean that the girls were possessed, most likely by witches, one of whom was Lana’s ancestor. He twitched nervously as he remembered his experience with Mikhail. It was rare that things could affect him, but Mikhail’s control over him reminded him all too well that while he was invulnerable, he wasn’t invincible. And from his foggy memory of last night, clearly the witches could affect him as well.

 

“You’re early.” Lana commented, the girls strutting down from his loft. “You’re not planning something devious, are you, Clark?”

 

Clark barely remained in control of his response to their appearance, wondering just how long they had been standing there, watching him fidget. “What did you do to Lex and Jason?”

 

She grinned devilishly in return. “Nothing compared to what we’re going to do to you.”

 

Clark glanced furtively at Chloe and Lois, hoping that one of them would be able to break out of the control that they were under. Last night he could have sworn that when he and Lois were making out that there had been moments where he had seen his bickering housemate come through the possession.

 

“Surgite!” Lois yelled, causing a wagon wheel that fly through the air towards him, hitting his gut with force and causing him to sail backwards before landing on the other side of the barn.

 

Clark coughed softly as he stood, taking care to keep his posture erect as he faced them down. Tone authoritative, he spoke. “I don’t know what’s going on, but this needs to stop before it gets out of hand.”

 

“So you’re more than just fast,” Lana commented ignoring Clark’s statement. “Well, that’ll make this a whole lot more exciting.”

 

“Incede!” Chloe shouted next.

 

He watched as the tools on the work bench came flying towards him. Acting on instinct, he used his heat vision to knock them out of the air, the tools landing uselessly on the ground. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.” Clark warned, glancing at his friends’ astounded faces. He just hoped that his assumption was correct and that they wouldn’t remember any of this when they were back to normal.

 

“Your magics are impressive.” Lana spoke, ignoring Clark’s confusion. “But so are mine. Evertere!” Clark convulsed helplessly in the air as Lana continued speaking, his body useless as he hung suspended. “We have travelled through the ages to complete our quest, outwitting death itself! We will not be outdone by some farm boy with a few tricks.”

 

He plummeted to the ground suddenly, leaving a dent where he landed. Lana stood haughtily away from him, sure that he would not go against her now. Chloe and Lois approached him, watching him curiously as they kneeled next to him.

 

“He’s not what he seems, Isobel.” Chloe spoke, inquisitive.

 

“I can feel his power.” Lois said, handing moving to grip onto his bicep.

 

It was Clark’s turn to be curious. Ignoring Lana and Chloe’s conversation and the blood dripping down his face from the most recent spell that Lana had cast. He had to hope that Lois was remembering. He was certain that she was herself for moments last night and something about his presence had to be getting through to her as she gripped onto him, staring intensely into his eyes.

 

“Lois,” Clark pleaded, “I know you’re in there. You gotta help.”

 

Her face scrunched as she fought against the possession. “Clark?”

 

“Lois, please.” He grabbed onto her in return. “You’re strong, I know you can do this.”

 

Lois gripped onto her head as she stumbled away, letting out a sharp cry of pain. Clark rushed forward to help her, only to find Lana and Chloe cackling as Lana waved her finger, bringing the return of whichever witch was currently taking over Lois’ body.

 

“Finish him, Brianna.” Lana ordered.

 

On command, Lois pressed her palm against his bare chest, chanting quietly in Latin. Clark tried to move, only he couldn’t. He was rooted to the spot, useless as Lois drew his powers out of him in a burst of purple light. Exhausted, Clark barely heard them make plans as his world faded to darkness.

 

When he woke, he was chained to the support beams in the barn. Clark wasn’t sure how many hours had passed as he struggled uselessly against his bindings. He felt sore, his body bruised and battered as he hung limply.

 

“He awakens.” Lois alerted, drawing the attention of Lana and Clark to him.

 

“What have you done to me?” He asked, his voice hoarse.

 

“We made sure that you are no longer a threat, sorcerer.” Chloe said.

 

“I’m not a sorcerer.” Clark protested, Chloe’s face twisting in confusion.

 

“No.” Lana confirmed. “He’s something else, something special. As Brianna drew your magics from you, she sensed the three stones of power. You know of them, don’t you?”

 

“I’ve never heard of them.”

 

“You’ve done more than heard of them, you’ve touched them.” Chloe observed, approaching him slowly.

 

“We can feel it.” Lois simpered, laying her hands on his chest. “You know where one of them is hidden.”

 

“Tell us where it is, Clark.” Lana whimpered, accessing her host’s memories and finding that at one point, he had been enamoured with her ancestor and her ancestor thought that he still was. 

 

“Please tell us.” Lois pleaded. Like Isobel, Brianna was accessing her own host’s memories. She knew that Isobel likely thought that Clark would tell her ancestor anything, however Brianna knew better. Clark had feelings, no matter how hidden, for the body that she inhabited. His behaviour last night was proof of that. If any of them were to draw the information from Clark, it would be her.

 

“I’ll get it out of him.” Lana spoke, waving Lois and Chloe away from Clark. “This body I inhabit, you have desires for it, don’t you?” She smirked, pressing her lips against his. “Well, it desires you too, Clark. Very, very much.” She kisses him sensuously, whispering under her breath as her lips caressed his. After a few minutes, she frowned, pulling away from him. “Why isn’t it working? The memories of my ancestor seem certain that he is still enamoured with her.”

 

“That’s because he isn’t.” Lois spoke up, gently moving Lana out of the way and taking her place in front of Clark. “He desires the body that I inhabit. Why else would he have been so willing to entertain me last night?”

 

Clark gulped at her choice of words, hoping that her version of entertainment didn’t involved anything beyond first base.

 

“I thought you had taken a liking to him and put him under a spell.” Lana’s frown deepened. “Why would he not want my ancestor?”

 

Lois rolled her eyes. “Do we need to have the conversation about my breasts again?”

 

Clark’s eyes bugged out of his head, wondering what exactly had happened with the girls when he wasn’t around them. Lana simply rolled her eyes in return at Lois before ordering her to get it over with.

 

“Clark,” Lois whispered, pushing herself up against him, relishing in his body’s obvious reaction to her proximity. Kissing him softly, she pulled away slightly. Satisfied with his starry-eyed expression, she knew that her instincts about his desires were true. “Demonstra.” She whispered. Lois kissed him again, Clark returning the kiss eagerly, moving to follow her as she moved away.

 

“The caves.” He supplied, his eyes widening in shock at what he revealed.

 

“Thank you, Clark.” Lois spoke, moving away towards Lana and Chloe. “You’ve been very helpful.”

 

“Abige!” Lana yelled.

 

The girls disappeared in a cloud of pink light, but Clark was still unable to free himself, struggling against his bindings.

 

“Clark?” Jason asked as he entered the barn, quickly rushing up to him to get him free. “What happened? Are you all right?” Clark fell to the ground in a heap, struggling to catch his breath as he wiped dried blood off of his forehead. He needed to get going. He had to stop them before they got the stone.

 

“We need to stop them.” Clark replied, Jason immediately understanding who he was talking about.

 

“Do you know where they went?”

 

Clark shook his head. “I’m not sure. Why don’t you check the school? I’ll go to the Talon.”

 

“All right, Clark.” Jason replied, unsure. “Call my cell if you find them, okay? Don’t try anything alone.”

 

As soon as Jason had left, Clark rushed to gather his things, grabbing both his grandfather’s rifle and the key, before jumping into the truck and driving recklessly towards the caves. As reluctant as Clark was to follow Jor-El’s request and gather the stones, he didn’t want others to get their hands on them. Like it or not, the stones were meant for him and him alone. Who knew what would happen if someone else got their hands on them.

 

He arrived at the caves just as the girls opened the wall, Lana reaching forward to grab the first stone of knowledge. Clark cocked the gun, gaining their attention. “Not quite.”

 

“You shouldn’t have come, Clark.” Lana smiled. “We owe you a debt for revealing this chamber to us. We were going to spare your life.”

 

“I’m sorry, Lana,” Clark shook his head. “I can’t let you do this.”

 

“You don’t have a choice.” Chloe growled, whipping the gun out of his hands.

 

“Bear witness, Clark Kent, to the dawn of a new age.” Lana moved once again to grab hold of the stone, but Clark reached his hand out for it, his memories as Kal-El coming back to him. The stone immediately recognised his DNA signature, launching through the air and into his hand. A bright light emitted from the stone, travelling into Clark’s body and immediately restoring his powers, his cuts and bruises disappearing.

 

“His powers are restored.” Lois pondered. “How?”

 

“I’m not from around here.” Clark replied simply.

 

“It doesn’t matter.” Lana interrupted their exchange, furious at the stone having been taken from her. “We took them from you once before. Do you really think that this time will be any different?”

 

“I’m counting on it.” His eyes turned red as he activated his heat vision, setting the spell book on fire. The book began to burn, Lana crying out in anguish as the symbol representing Isobel began to glow, a white energy shooting out of the book and blasting the girls backwards, unconscious.

 

Lois was the first to awaken. “Why are we lying in the dirt?”

 

“And what the hell are we wearing?” Chloe asked, looking down at her attire.

 

Clark quickly moved to help Lois, then Chloe up as Lana fumbled to regain her surroundings. “Clark, what happened?” Lana asked.

 

He smirked, glancing quickly at Lois as he remembered the various things that had happened in the past few hours, including Isobel’s revelations about Lana’s desires. “Well, let’s just say that you haven’t been yourselves lately.”

 

Lois muttered to herself as Clark showed them out of the caves, helping them get over the rocks in their heels. “Yeah…” She whispered. “Haven’t been ourselves…” Lois remained as far from Clark as she could as they all piled into the truck.She would either chock it up to being possessed, or if she built up enough courage, ask Clark about it. Because for some reason, she had images of kissing Clark against the barn wall flitting through her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's the next update! Sorry it's a little bit late, but I just got back from Berlin not too long ago.
> 
> I'm also currently dealing with some house drama at the moment where someone who I thought was a friend is being super petty and immature now that I've grown a spine and asked that our friendship be a two way street. Word of advice: who a person is when you are disagreeing/arguing with them and they aren't getting their way in life is generally their true self. And when someone shows you their true selves, walk away and don't look back. There's no shame in putting yourself first once in a while because if you don't, who else will?


	9. Chapter Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jonathan discovers that party in his barn and Lois talks some sense into Clark.

Martha quickly hushed her husband as they entered the farmhouse, both relaxed after their much needed vacation. Jonathan’s brow furrowed before quickly spotting the two sleeping teenagers in the living room, Lois sprawled out on the couch, Clark in the arm chair. He chuckled softly before setting their bags down, motioning to Martha that he would go and take care of the barn chores that his son clearly hadn’t gotten a chance yet to do. 

 

As Jonathan made his way to the barn, he wondered what on Earth resulted in both of them being so exhausted that they fell asleep downstairs. Lois he could understand, as she had been adamant about helping Clark out around the farm the previous weekend and had likely been so this weekend as well. Clark however… Well, Jonathan rarely saw his son tired. As he got older, Clark seemed to need less and less sleep, drawing most of his energy from the sun.

 

The answer to his queries stared him right in the face when he entered the barn. He gasped, mouth open, as he looked at the state of the barn. Clothing was everywhere, even in the rafters, streamers hanging limply onto the walls, and it seemed as if the family tractor had been completely covered in confetti. “Clark!” Jonathan bellowed. “Lois!”

 

Inside the house, both of the culprits awoke with a shock, bolting up from their respective dozing spots with identical horrified looks on their faces. Martha froze at hearing her husband yell, her confusion increasing when she saw the teenagers reactions to it.

 

“Oh no.” Clark gulped.

 

“Shit.” Lois cursed.

 

By the time Jonathan was back in the house, both Lois and Clark were standing sheepishly by the coffee table, Lois analysing the grain of the wood and Clark counting the loose threads in the carpet. 

 

“Do you two want to explain to me why the barn looks like a frat house exploded in it?” Jonathan spoke with barely concealed rage.

 

Martha’s eyebrows shot up at her husband’s question, whipping her head to look at Lois and Clark, who were both sputtering out their explanations.

 

“It was just a tiny thing for Chloe’s birthday!” Lois protested. “Small group of people, no booze, I swear!”

 

“But Lana got possessed by her ancestor who happened to be a witch—“

 

“Right! And she got me and Chloe possessed by witches too!”

 

“And they turned up at the barn and cast this spell and I don’t remember anything until the next day! And then I spent all of yesterday figuring out how to get them un-possessed so I didn’t really have time to clean the barn.”

 

“It was totally not our fault, Mr. and Mrs. Kent! We wouldn’t break your trust like that—“

 

“It was magic!” Clark finished, he and Lois warily eyeing his parents as they finished their story.

 

Martha and Jonathan looked at their son and houseguest in disbelief. They had both seen a lot of strange things throughout the years, after all, their son was an alien. However, the idea of possession, ancient witches and magic was a bit too much, even for them.

 

“I’m sure it was magic, Sweetie.” Martha spoke.

 

“And you’ll both wish for some more magic, when you spend the rest of the day cleaning the barn.” Jonathan proclaimed.

 

“Dad—“

 

“Mr. Kent—“

 

“No buts.” Jonathan spoke sternly. “Now go out there and make my barn look like a barn again.”

 

~~~

 

Three garbage bags full of rubbish and unclaimed clothing later, and Lois and Clark still weren’t done cleaning the barn. Lois chose to take their punishment as an opportunity to find her missing bra that must have disappeared at some point during her possession, obnoxiously belting out her favourite rock songs as she worked. Clark meanwhile, was grumbling, haphazardly shoving handfuls of streamer and underwear into the bags with the aim of getting their task done as quickly as possible. The less time he had at the scene of the crime to reminisce about the weekend’s events, the better.

 

Lois whistled as she worked, tossing forsaken underwear towards Clark just to see him squirm when the items occasionally landed near, or if she was particularly lucky with her aim, on him. She hummed as she moved along the trail of destruction in the barn, casting sly glances towards Clark to see his reaction towards the aftermath. He was decidedly unamused, and Lois frowned as she looked closer at him, possibly brooding. Her frown deepened when with perfect aim, she launched a forgotten thong at him, Clark not even grimacing as he brushed it off of his shoulder. Normally, at this point in their friendship, he would be extending her name by several syllables, asking her to knock it off. However, he wasn’t even appearing to really care that Lois was trying her hardest to mess with him.

 

Setting her trash bag down, Lois marched over to him, hands on her hips. “Okay, Smallville, what’s eating you? I’ve spent the last five minutes doing my best to piss you off and you’re as stoic as my dad that time he caught me sneaking into his alcohol cabinet at night with his own night vision goggles.”

 

“You snuck into the General’s alcohol supply using his own night vision goggles?”

 

“Don’t change the subject, Smallville, answer my question.”

 

Clark sighed, continuing to pick up fallen streamers. “Nothing’s eating me, Lois. I’m just not exactly happy about the whole party gone wrong thing.”

 

“Bullshit. Even if you were brooding about that, you’d still find a way to be annoyed at me. Especially when I’m putting a whole lot of effort in here to get on your nerves.”

 

“I didn’t know you cared, Lois.” He smirked, crossing his arms.

 

“Of course I care, Smallville, I have to live with you and I don’t want to live with Broody McBroodison.” Clark raised his eyebrow, Lois sighing before conceding. “Okay, fine. I guess we’re sorta, kinda friends. I mean, you have saved my life a time or two, though I do maintain that I could have gotten out of all those situations on my own.” His eyebrow raised higher. “Okay, most of them! Jeesh!” She growled, moving her arms defensively across her chest. “Now tell me what the hell’s eating you?”

 

Clark paused before beginning to start cleaning up the barn once again. Lois clearly wasn’t about to let this go, but he didn’t know how to bring it up without revealing his other worldly origins. “Well, those witches that possessed you? They were looking for something.”

 

“And….” Lois said, gesturing for him to continue.

 

“You know I’m adopted, right?” She nodded. “Well, my birth father, in his… Will… Well, there’s these things, family heirlooms, that I’m supposed to find. They’re very valuable so he scattered them across the world in trusted places but the location of those places got lost by the time the lawyers found who adopted me. Their death was really sudden so everything was really scrambled and—“

 

“No need to explain, Smallville.” Lois gave a comforting smile. “So what, these witches tortured you to find these things? What the hell are these heirlooms that makes them so valuable though?”

 

“I don’t really know.” He shrugged, which was sort of the truth. “I found one of them…”

 

“And you mislead the witches by telling them it was in the caves, hence we woke up there?”

 

His eyes widened slightly at the easy explanation she gave him. Clark never thought for a second that Lois would be so trusting when he was being so vague. “Yeah.” He confirmed quickly before she dug into his story. “And it’s safe now. But there’s still two more out there. And honestly, I don’t want to find them, you know? Mom and Dad may not be my real parents, but they raised me. I don’t care about what my birth parents wanted for me because they weren’t the ones that raised me and the whole, no instruction thing and just expecting me to drop everything to fulfil their will is stupid and—“

 

“Whoa!” Lois exclaimed, raising her hands up. “Slow down there, farm boy. Don’t you think you’re over-reacting a little bit?” Clark glared at her, causing Lois to roll her eyes. “Look, I’ll agree with you that the lack of instructions is seriously lame. And yeah, they didn’t raise you, but it’s not like they left you on the doorstep of an orphanage. They died. They didn’t exactly have a choice.” He opened his mouth to protest, but Lois quickly cut him off. “No, I’m speaking. Look, that logic is like me being mad at my mom for leaving me with my dad. If she had a choice, she would have chosen to be there for me, and I’m sure your parents would have with you.

 

“So, if that’s your reasoning for not going after these heirlooms and finding them wherever the hell they are, especially considering other people want them for some reason, than you’re dumber than I thought you were.”

 

“Lois—“

 

“Clark,” She said sternly, his eyes widening at her use of his actual name, a sure indication that she was being serious and that there was no room for negotiation in the conversation. “There’s obviously a lot you aren’t telling me and that’s fine. But either buck up and stop brooding or go after these heirlooms. They’re clearly important if other people are trying to find them and they’re meant for you, no one else. So it’s up to you to find them. I’m sure that the lawyers weren’t the best at telling you why you need to find them because lawyers don’t really have good people skills—“

 

“You have no idea.” He muttered.

 

“But, there’s probably a reason that you need to find them and a reason that they belong to you. Other people are going after them, they’re clearly special somehow. And I really don’t want to be possessed again if someone else comes into town and tries to get the one that you do have.”

 

Clark’s brow knitted as he took in her words. With the grace of a bull in a china shop, Lois had sorted through his vague information about the stones and gave him a talking to like no one, even his parents, gave him. His parents distrusted Jor-El as much as Clark did, and even if Chloe and Lana knew about his less than earthly origins, Clark really doubted that his friends would talk to him in such a straight forward way. It may have been rough, Lois’ unplanned tirade, but it got the message home. No matter what Clark may think he knows about his birth parents, they didn’t plan to leave him; They gave him a chance at life because they knew that otherwise, he would die alongside them. And while the voice of Jor-El clearly doesn’t understand the importance of communication and full-disclosure, it had to be telling him to collect the stones for a reason. The witches coming after them so shortly after Clark had retrieved the stone from Lex was a warning; The stones are powerful and people will be coming after them, people who shouldn’t hold that type of power in their hands.

 

“You’re right.” Clark admitted. “Thanks, Lois.”

 

Lois beamed. “No problem, Smallville. And if you need any help collecting those heirlooms, let me know. I do have a few military connections.”

 

“What, going to steal your dad’s night vision gear again?”

 

She reddened uncharacteristically, punching him in the arm before going to retrieve her garbage bag. “Shut up, farm boy. Now we’ve got a barn to clean, so let’s get to it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See, scenes that I wished happened in Smallville for real. The blind hatred Clark had towards his birth parents kinda annoyed me because yes, Jor-El was not forthcoming, but like his parents were still his birth parents as great as the Kents were and it's not like they didn't want to raise him.
> 
> Always need a Lois kicking Clark's ass in gear scene. Also, I kinda genuinely believe that if Lois and Clark had been required to clean up the barn together, something like this would have happened where she called him out on his shitty opinion about his birth parents.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luthcorp experimentation causes a contagion to spread throughout Smallville.

Clark and Lois rushed into the hospital, searching desperately for Chloe’s blonde head. Once she was spotted, the pair surged forward, Lois grabbing her cousin into a desperate hug.

 

“God, Chlo,” Lois breathed. “Next time you call me from a hospital make sure to include that you’re not the one admitted, okay?”

 

“Sorry, Lois.” Chloe blushed sheepishly. “I was just so concerned when I got the call from Lana that I didn’t think. She’s been in there with Jason since he’s been admitted, but the doctors have no idea what’s going on.”

 

“What do they know?” Clark asked.

 

Chloe shrugged. “Just that his heart is beating incredibly fast and his blood pressure is incredibly high and nothing will bring it down. He’s in a perpetual panic mode.”

 

“But he’s in a coma.” Lois clarified. “That’s more than a bit unusual.”

 

“Chloe, do you think you can ask Lana for the keys to her apartment? Maybe the three of us can go look for clues.” Clark spoke, glancing towards the room where Lana sat patiently at Jason’s bedside, clutching his hand in hers.

 

She quickly disappeared into the hospital room, Lois turning to observe Clark. He was clearly worried about Lana and Jason, and Lois knew from experience that saying that you’ve moved on from an ex and actually moving on were two very different things. “Clark?” She asked softly. “How are you holding up?”

 

He tilted his head in confusion before she nodded her head towards the scene in the hospital room, recognition dawning on him. “Honestly? It’s kinda hard seeing them like that. I knew that they were dating, but I didn’t know how serious they were. I mean, I’m over her and she’s happy and I really don’t think that whatever we had going on would ever be long-lasting but…”

 

“You still loved her at some point in time.” She squeezed his shoulder. “If you need to talk…”

 

“I’m fine, Lois.” He smiled. “But thanks. Let’s just figure out why he’s in a coma in the first place.”

 

~~~

 

The search at the Talon apartment led the investigative trio to Luthorcorp, discovering that Jason had had a meeting at the plant earlier in the day. It was there that they split up, Lois and Chloe taking a backstage tour while Clark talked to Lex about Jason’s condition.

 

“Clark?” Lex queried. “How did you get in here?”

 

Clark stuttered. “Uh, the gate was open. Your security seems to be a little MIA recently.”

 

“That’s obvious, but this is a restricted area.”

 

“This will only take a second.”

 

Lex sighed, stopping at a nearby wall phone to dial security, asking them to escort out a guest. “I’m sorry, Clark, but I just got in from Metropolis. I have a lot to do.”

 

Clark frowned, lengthening his gait to catch up to Lex. “Just now? I thought you had a meeting with Jason this morning?”

 

“Not with me, with my HR department.”

 

“You’re giving him a job?”

 

“Just some leads.” Lex replied. “I felt guilty for getting Jason fired from the school. He didn’t even want Lana to know about it, I’m surprised he told you.”

 

“He didn’t. Jason’s lying unconscious at the hospital, some sort of neurological stress.”

 

Clark watched Lex’s facial expressions carefully, the billionaire carefully schooling his features to not let his panic show through. “Do they know what happened?”

 

“No, but your HR guy might have been the last person to talk to him.”

 

“I’ll track him down, Clark, but there could be a lot of reason’s for Jason’s condition.”

 

Lex began to walk away quickly, halting in his tracks as Clark called out after him. “There could also be a lot of reasons why this place is deserted halfway through a Saturday shift.”

 

Whatever reply Lex had been forming was stifled however by Lois’ loud shriek, both Clark and Lex running to follow the sound. They turned the corner to find Lois cradling her cousin’s unconscious body.

 

“I’ll call an ambulance.” Lex quickly offered, turning swiftly out of the room.

 

“What happened?” Clark asked, moving to grab Chloe from Lois and carry her out of the room.

 

“We were just snooping you know, nothing unusual. And then she just… She just collapsed. For a while her body was flailing about and she was screaming in terror and then it just stopped. You don’t…” Lois started uncertainly, running her hands through her hair and dishevelling her neat ponytail. “You don’t think she has whatever’s wrong with Jason, do you?”

 

Clark caught the slight, almost unnoticeable tremor in Lois’ voice as she spoke. “She’ll be okay, Lois. We’ll figure this out. Now come on, let’s get Chloe to the hospital.”

 

~~~

 

Lois, Clark, Martha and Jonathan sat at the kitchen table, going over possible explanations for the contagion that seemed to be spreading through Smallville. Clark groaned in frustration, Martha rubbing soothing circles on his back as he hung up the phone with the hospital.

 

“Eight more people have been admitted since Jason and Chloe.”

 

“Have the doctors found anything in common?” Lois asked eagerly. “Both Jason and Chloe were at Luthorcorp.”

 

“Yeah, but half the victims weren’t.” Clark sighed. “This things just seems to be striking at random.”

 

“Maybe it’s in the air or water? It’s clearly contagious, but the common denominator doesn’t appear to be Luthorcorp at the moment.” Jonathan offered.

 

Their conversation was interrupted by Lana tentatively knocking on the farmhouse door. “Sorry to show up like this, I just didn’t know where else to go.”

 

Martha looked sadly at Lana, noticing the dried tears in the girl’s eyes. “Clark and Lois told us about Jason. Has something happened?”

 

“One of the other infected people just died. The doctor’s are saying that a person’s body can only sustain a level of panic for so long—“

 

“Until a person’s body gives out.” Lois completed quietly, Clark grabbing onto her hand tightly for support.

 

“I know that you are looking for what’s causing this… I want to help. I can’t just sit in that hospital room and wait for Jason to die.”

 

“I was about to turn on the farming report, seeing if anything unusual in the weather report’s popped up.” Jonathan offered. “Why doesn’t Lois stay here with me in case the hospital calls about Chloe and we’ll look through the hourly farming reports. Clark, Lana, why don’t you two see if you can find any specific environmental reports for the Smallville area. Maybe air quality?”

 

Clark nodded. “Lana and I will go to the Torch and see what we can find. Keep us updated?” He asked, his gaze drifting to where Lois was sitting, her eyes already glued to the farming reports on the TV. 

 

“We will, Clark.” Martha assured her son. “You just go and do what you can.”

 

~~~

 

In the Torch office, Clark quickly found air quality reports, bringing up the hourly satellite images. “According to these, we had clear air all morning.”

 

Lana frowned, leaning over his shoulder to look at the screen. “Can we get more specific that hourly?”

 

“I can try.” He responded, quickly searching as Chloe taught him to as Lana talked about feeling betrayed by Jason’s refusal to tell her about his meeting at Luthorcorp. Clark responded half-heartedly as he searched for something that would help them solve the mystery of the contagion until she asked in if he really thought she was so shallow, that she’d see Jason differently for accepting a job from Lex. Clark grimaced, knowing that while Lana wasn’t a shallow person in many respects, Clark’s own refusal to confide in her did find justification along the lines of her seeing him differently. Instead of replying with his own feelings about the matter, he quickly brought up a minute-by-minute report.

 

“Look at that.” Lana commented, quickly distracted from her musings.

 

“It looks like that cloud came out of nowhere and then it’s completely gone five minutes later.” Clark quickly searched further. “It covered a two mile radius.”

 

“Why would a cloud just disappear like that?”

 

“Maybe it’s not a cloud. Maybe it’s a pollutant.”

 

“Chloe’s house was right in the middle of the cloud if that’s what it is.” She observed.

 

“And so is Luthorcorp.”

 

Clark shot out of his chair, ready to confront Lex about his supposed innocence in the contagion that was wrecking havoc on the small town. He was halfway to the door when Lana screamed, Clark turning around just in time to see her collapse. “Lana!” He called, speeding forward to catch her before she fell to the floor. 

 

Whatever that cloud was, it was spreading and it was spreading quickly. He needed to act fast. Otherwise who knew how many other people would be next.

 

~~~

 

It was when Clark safely got Lana to the hospital, that he confronted Lex about the contagion. Slamming his once friend against the wall, Clark seethed through his teeth as he spoke. “Did you know about this when I talked to you earlier today?”

 

“Clark, other than Jason, I had no idea anyone outside of Luthorcorp was exposed. You have to believe me.”

 

“What is this stuff?” He asked, tightening his grip on Lex’s shirt.

 

_All of a sudden, a loud whizzing noise was heard in the distance. Lex wriggled out of Clark’s grasp as Clark stayed frozen, watching as meteors crashed into the hospital, killing helpless patients and wounding thousands of others._

 

_“No!” He screamed, going to help people but finding himself useless against the meteors. This couldn’t be happening, not again._

 

_Clark rushed out of the hospital, praying that his parents and Lois were okay. He arrived at the farm in record time, searching frantically as he noticed a large meteor had crashed into the house. “Mom! Dad! Lois!”_

 

_Running into the house, he pushed rubble and rock aside, tears in his eyes and sobs chocking in his throat as he saw the destruction of the meteors, his parents lying lifeless in the remains of the kitchen. “No… No!”_

 

_“It’s all your fault, Clark.” Lois spoke from where she was lying, half under the collapsed dining room table._

 

_“Lois!” He cried, throwing the detritus off of her with ease. “No, Lois, please, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”_

 

_“This if your fault, Clark. It’s all your fault! Get away from me you freak! You alien!”_

 

_“Lois, please!”_

 

_“Get out, Alien! It’s all your fault!”_

 

Clark burst awake in the hospital, ripping his IV out, hand clutching at his still pounding chest. Ignoring concerned members of staff, he walked decisively into the hallway, looking around desperately in a vain attempt to see if his parents were in the hospital.

 

“Clark?” The doctor who was talking to Lex earlier approached him.

 

“I need to find my parents! Where are they?”

 

“They haven’t been admitted. Clark, you’re the first patient to come out of this. I think you need to sit down.”

 

“No, I feel fine.”

 

The doctor’s protests fell on deaf ears as Clark ran out of the hallway before speeding to the farm, a sigh of relief escaping as he realised that the farm house was still in one piece. Entering the house, he called out of her parents and Lois, fear gripping him he found his parents lying collapsed on the kitchen floor.

 

“Mom! Dad!” Turning the corner, Clark found Lois body still thrashing as she tried to fight against the contagion. “Lois!” 

 

Controlling his breathing, Clark acted quickly, delivering both his parents and Lois to the hospital. Once he was certain that they were monitored, he turned towards Luthorcorp. He and a certain billionaire had a conversation that needed to be finished.

 

~~~

 

“Clark!” Lex yelled after he spotted Clark, his surprise evident. “What are you doing here? I left you in the hospital?”

 

“My parents and Lois are in there now.”

 

“Clark…”

 

“They’re all going to die if you don’t do something. Your reckless experimenting has caused this, Lex.”

 

Lex bristled visibly at Clark’s harsh words. “What do you suggest I do?”

 

“Use me. I came out of it. There has to be something useful you can gain from me.”

 

The researcher standing near Lex frowned. “Even if we could gain some knowledge from your immune system, that kind of testing takes months.”

 

Lex shook his head, fighting between his curiosity about Clark’s secrets and practicality. “He’s right, Clark. We have a new antidote that we can test in a few hours.”

 

“There’s no time.” Clark protested.

 

“The antidote needs to be heated to 1000 degrees Kelvin until it clears. Otherwise it’s useless.”

 

As the researcher and Lex got in an argument over testing the antidote before using it, Clark took the distraction to his advantage, using his heat vision on the incubator and raising the temperature until the antidote turned clear. The beeping of the incubator caused both the researcher and Lex to turn around, confused.

 

Lex acted first, grabbing the incubator and stabbing it into his wrist to inject the antidote. He convulsed, Clark catching him before he fell to the floor and laying him down gently. They watched with bated breath as Lex’s body fought the contagion, his back arching off the ground in a final act of defiance before he woke with a shock.

 

“Clark?” Lex asked.

 

“I’m going to get the antidote to the hospital.” The researcher announced.

 

Clark smiled. As much as he had drifted from the billionaire, he was glad that his own experimentation hadn’t kill him. Even if he had caused the contagion in the first place, albeit accidentally. “You’re going to be okay, Lex.”

 

~~~

 

After an intense conversation with his parents about the events of the day, Clark found himself in his loft, bouncing his tennis ball against the opposing wall as he leaned up against his couch.

 

“That must have been some nightmare you had to send you up here brooding.” Lois said, announcing her presence in the loft. “Want to talk about it?”

 

Clark shrugged. “Not really. That contagion acted on your worst fear and then I came home to find you all on the floor. It was almost like my nightmare came true.”

 

“Hey,” she comforted, grabbing his hand and gripping it in hers. “We’re okay. We’re fine. It was terrifying watching your parents go into the panic state and I know that I was still in it when you got to the house. I can only imagine what that must have felt like.”

 

“You were fighting off something pretty bad.” He commented. “Do you want to talk about it?”

 

She smirked, her usual arrogance lacking from the gesture. “Let’s just say that the General’s self-defence lessons come in handy even in nightmares.”

 

Clark accepted the brush off as he saw it, the pair falling into the comfortable silence until Chloe entered the loft, ranting about how no official would talk about the contagion that had caused people to enter into a panic state and live their worst nightmares.

 

“Chloe!” Lois shouted. “Calm down! Luthor has money, of course this is being covered up.”

 

“Come on, Chlo, you’re clearly shaken, come sit with us.” Clark said, patting the spot next to him on the couch.

 

Chloe shook her head. “It’s just misplaced anxiety. My nightmare… I found my mom… And well, she’s in a mental institution.” Lois immediately bolted up, wrapping her cousin in a hug. “And the real kicker is that it’s hereditary.”

 

“Hey,” Lois soothed. “It’s okay.”

 

“You’re not destined to follow in your parents footsteps, Chloe.” Clark added.

 

Chloe wiped the tears from her eyes, breaking from her cousin’s embrace. “So, what did you guys dream about.”

 

Lois gave a knowing smile. “Just something that requires some self-defence skills.” She wasn’t about to go into detail about her dream, not with the normally mysterious face of her saviour being replaced with Clark’s, especially not with him in the room. The real nightmare may have been her lacking control, being helpless to save those she loved, but the fact that her childhood nightmare saviour had saved her in the panic state was scaring her more than the actual panic state itself.

 

“What about you, Clark?” Chloe redirected. “You were the only one who came out of it, and I don’t think it’s because you take your vitamins.”

 

Clark shifted uncomfortably at the accusation and Lois frowned at her cousin’s tone. For someone who called Clark her best friend, who idolised him for years and was hopelessly in love with him, she was sounding downright accusatory and a little resentful. Lois knew that Clark had a secret, after all, she had had enough conversations stop when she entered the room at the farm house to know that there was some Kent family secret that revolved around Clark. But she would never pry, and she had only met the farm boy a few months ago.

 

Chloe continued on as if Lois wasn’t in the room. “Look, you know what? You don’t have to tell me. I know I gave you my word that I’d stop prying but… In these last few months, I really got a taste of what it was like having a secret and I never felt more alone. I’d hate to live my life like that. I mean, if you can’t tell your best friend, who can you tell? Right, Clark?”

 

Lois’ frown deepened at Chloe’s words. What did she mean by stop prying? What was the story behind that? And why did it sound like Chloe was trying to guilt Clark into telling her the family secret when Clark was clearly incredibly uncomfortable with the course of the conversation? Before Clark could defend himself, Lois spoke up, taking a stepping between him and her cousin.“Chloe, back off.”

 

“Excuse me?” Chloe asked.

 

“Everyone has a right to their own secrets. People keep them for a reason. You know that as well as I do.”

 

“I’m sorry, Lois, but I’ve been Clark’s friend a lot longer than you and I think I have a right—“

 

“You don’t have a right to know people’s secrets, Chloe.” Lois corrected vehemently, taken aback by her own cousin’s behaviour. Clearly, she didn’t know Chloe as well as she thought she did. “Stop being a journalist and start being a friend. I don’t know what his secret is either but if he wants to tell me one day, he will. The same goes for you.”

 

Chloe huffed, offended. “Fine then, I’ll see you both at school.”

 

Clark and Lois watched as Chloe stomped out of the barn. Once she left, Clark looked at Lois oddly, his friend still agitated from observing her cousin interact with him. He smiled slightly, wondering what Lois would have done if she had been there when Lana was constantly hounding him for his secrets, claiming that he didn’t love her if he wasn’t completely honest with her.

 

“What are you looking at, Smallville?”

 

“Thank you, Lois. You didn’t have to do that.”

 

Lois brushed him off. “Of course, I did, Clark. I love my cousin, but I think she sometimes forgets that even though she’s a journalist, she can’t just go around demanding answers out of everyone. People have the right to their privacy. Besides, your secret isn’t harming anyone.”

 

“And you know that how?” He asked, eyes narrowing, wondering just what she may have observed while living at the farm.

 

“Well, I’m pretty sure you’re not a serial killer.” She joked. “Come on, I think your mom has dinner ready.”

 

Clark shook his head as Los walked towards the house. He was sure about one thing when it came to his housemate, and that was that she would never stop surprising him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I always wanted someone to yell at Chloe for constantly digging into Clark's life. Like, you'd think that after the whole birth mother fiasco she would have stopped, but no. And like, this wasn't even a 'I've seen your powers and I'm hinting that I know them thing' because that happened later in the season and I'm sort of okay with that. This is a 'you clearly have a secret and I'm going to bug you until you tell me because I deserve to know your secret' and that attitude bothers the fuck out of me. Lots of people have secrets, some of my friends have secrets, I have secrets. I'll tell you if you need to know and if I ever feel comfortable telling you. I also have huge issues with people trying to guilt people into doing stuff because decisions should never be made on guilt.
> 
> Okay, rant over, hope you enjoyed!


	11. Chapter Elevent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alicia is released from Belle Reve and makes a visit to Smallville.

Lois groaned in frustration as she crumpled up yet another piece of paper. She’d been working on her math homework for ages, but she just couldn’t wrap her head around derivatives. Whoever said that high school students need to know calculus should be punished. Lois may not have any idea what she wanted to do with her life, but she knew that she would never have to use this type of math again.

 

“Need some help there?” Clark chuckled from where he sat next to her. The two of them had headed into town to work on their homework, Lois insisting that she needed a change of scenery and a healthy dose of a caffeine.

 

“Shut up.” She grumbled, casting a sly glance towards Clark’s nearly finished homework. Math and Clark clearly got along well. “I’m going to get more coffee.”

 

Standing up in a huff, Clark watched as Lois stormed her way to the register, his mother giving her a wary eye as Lois ordered yet another cup of coffee, bringing her current total for the day up to six cups. It probably wasn’t healthy, but Clark wasn’t about to call her on it.

 

“Hey, Clark! What are you doing?” A voice greeted, Clark glancing up to find two cheerleaders standing in front of him.

 

His brow furrowed, trying for the life of him to remember the names of the girls in front of him. “Hey, um, I’m just doing some calculus homework.”

 

“With Lois?” The blonde of the pair asked, glancing quickly towards where his study buddy was now talking to Martha, greedily sipping her coffee.

 

He nodded. “Well, I’m doing homework. Lois is taking her anger out on paper and mainlining coffee.”

 

“Well, when you’re done playing with your protractor, there’s a party over at Katie’s house.” The brunette mentioned.

 

“Her parents have a hot tub.” The blonde added, noticing his hesitation.

 

“Really?” He asked. “Can Lois come? I think she might need a break after all this math.”

 

“Can I come to what, Smallville?” Lois questioned, tossing him a muffin.

 

He raised the baked good in thanks before answering her question. “A party at Katie’s house. Apparently there’s a hot tub.”

 

“Really?” She quirked an eyebrow, glancing to notice the two disgruntled cheerleaders. She sniggered. Clearly they had been hoping to get Clark to come to the party alone. The boy did not know the pull that he had with the opposite sex, and even some of the same sex.

 

“Yeah, you’re welcome to come too, Lois.” The brunette said begrudgingly.

 

“Well, in that case,” Lois smirked, “I have an outfit to pick out. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure farm boy here comes tonight.”

 

The blonde beamed. “Thanks, Lois! See you guys then!”

 

“Come on, Smallville.” Lois said, punching his arm as she collected her things. “Let’s get going so that I can get ready. I’ll meet you out in the car.”

 

“Yes, Lois.” Clark rolled his eyes, going over to inform his mother that they were leaving as Lois headed out towards the car.

 

“What was all that?” Martha asked curiously as Clark approached her.

 

“Lois and I got invited to a party tonight. Is that okay?”

 

“Of course, Clark. It will be good for you to have some fun. I’m guessing Lois persuaded you to go?” At his affirmation, Martha smiled knowingly. While Jonathan was denying any sparks between the two teenagers, Martha knew better. She had noticed the subtle changes in attitude between them, their good-natured bickering becoming more flirtatious. “I think she’s good for you, son.”

 

At her suggestive tone, Clark’s head shot up. “Mom…” He groaned, flinging his head back. “Lois and I are just friends.”

 

“Mhm…”

 

“I mean, a girl would have to be crazy to get into a relationship with me.” His voice dropped, showing his vulnerability. Sighing, he hesitantly added, “Besides, as unconventional and unique as Lois is, I don’t think even she could handle what I am.”

 

Looking at her son sadly, Martha grasped his hand. “Clark, I’ve always believed that there’s someone out there for you. And I think Lois may surprise you.”

 

Brushing off her hint, Clark stood up. “I better get going. Don’t want to keep Lois waiting too long.”

 

Martha watched as her son made his way out of the Talon, only to be met by Lois at the door. The girl was clearly frustrated, her patience having reached it’s breaking point. Clark rolled his eyes as Lois gesticulated wildly, obviously berating him for taking so long. Shutting her up by slapping his hand over her mouth, Lois’ eyes widened in shock as he quickly steered them out the door, her protests at his man-handling muffled by his hand.

 

She chuckled at the show that they provided, several of the Talon customers also watching their interaction curiously. Lois was the only one who ever got her mild-mannered son to lose his cool. Yep, there was definitely something there.

 

~~~

 

Clark grimaced at the loud music as he pushed his way through the throng of people at the party, cup of stale beer in hand. While he had come with Lois, he had lost her quickly. He had ended up talking to some teammates by the beer keg and she had wandered off somewhere. From the whispers going around, she had won a beer pong tournament, but he had no idea where she was currently.

 

Finally making his way outside for some fresh air, he breathed a sigh of relief when he finally spotted his lost party companion. “Lois!” He called.

 

The girl in question waved excitedly at him, calling for him with her hand. “Come on, Smallville, I made you wear swim trunks for a reason!”

 

Shaking his head, Clark joined her in the hot tub, tossing his shirt to the side by her things as he got in. The water was incredibly warm, a sharp contrast to the cool winter’s night. “So where have you disappeared to all night?”

 

“Well, first I beat some jocks in a beer pong game—“

 

“I heard.”

 

“And then I decided to make use of my bikini.” She smirked as his gaze almost imperceptibly dropped to take in her red swimsuit top before meeting her eyes once again. “What have you been doing?”

 

Holding his red cup up as evidence, he shrugged. “I got caught up with some teammates at the keg and well…”

 

“They wanted to get the mild-mannered Clark Kent to try a beer? If only they knew about our little weekend at the farm.”

 

Hiding his shock at Lois mentioning the night she had tried to get him drunk with a bottle of vodka, a topic that had yet to be broached, he furrowed his brow. “How much have you had to drink, Lo?”

 

She shoved his shoulder gently. “Relax, boy scout. The only thing I drank was during the tournament. I’m not about to stumble into your house drunk.”

 

“My mom knows were at a party, Lois.”

 

“Yeah, and your dad would react really well to us coming home drunk.” She rolled her eyes, reaching over him to steal his drink, arm brushing across his chest as she did so. They both gasped slightly at the contact, Lois quickly concealing her reaction by downing the rest of his drink. At his glare, she laughed. “Oh, come on, you weren’t going to finish it anyway.But if you really want, I’ll go get you another one.”

 

She stood up in the tub, surprised to find Clark’s hand gently yet firmly gripping onto her wrist. “Stay.” He ordered. “I feel like I haven’t seen you all night. I’ve spent more time with the cheerleaders than you.”

 

“Well, you are the star quarterback.” She quipped.

 

“Stay.” He pleaded. “I haven’t been properly made fun of tonight. You don’t want my ego getting too big now, do you?”

 

Plopping back down with a slight splash, she grinned. “We can’t have that now can we?”

 

Clark wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they sat in the hot tub, Lois laughing as she rested her head on his shoulder, the two of them looking up at the stars. He pointed out different constellations to her, Lois teasing him about his nerdy tendencies.

 

Alicia watched Lois and Clark from the doorway to the house. When she had arrived back in Smallville, she had immediately went to the farm to let Clark know that she was cured. When he wasn’t there, she heard about the party in town and decided to check it out. She was surprised to say the least to find him at the party as he had always held himself apart from his peers. Her eyes narrowed as she watched him interact with the girl she had learned was Chloe’s cousin. She especially hadn’t expected him to be so comfortable with the girl next to him.

 

“I see they’ve released you from Belle Reve.” Chloe commented, sliding up next to Alicia. She smiled softly at her cousin and Clark. It may have been hard for her at first to see the spark between them, but looking at them now, Chloe knew they’d be a good pair. If only either of them ever acted. “Or did you teleport your way out?”

 

Alicia frowned. “They released me, said that I was cured.” Holding up her wrist, she showed Chloe her lead bracelet. “This keeps me from using my powers.”

 

Chloe nodded, skeptical. Things had been slightly awkward between her and Clark since Lois had called Chloe on her less than friendly inquisition, but Chloe hoped that she could redeem herself, starting by making sure that Alicia wasn’t here to cause trouble.

 

“Are they dating?” Alicia finally asked, pointing towards the hot tub, where only Clark and Lois remained.

 

Shaking her head, Chloe replied. “Not yet. There’s been rumours going around school. You know how it is.” Glancing at the teleporter’s stoic face, Chloe continued. “I think there’s something there. They’re just both too stubborn to admit it.”

 

Alicia took one last look at the star-gazing couple before turning to leave. “I guess I’ll catch up with Clark, later. It was nice seeing you, Chloe.”

 

Chloe watched as Alicia left, almost able to see the gears turning in her head. She was up to something, something surrounding Clark. And Chloe would find out what that was.

 

~~~

 

Clark was on edge in his loft. Ever since Chloe had told him that Alicia had returned after being released, he felt like he was balancing on the tip of a knife, one wrong step and his whole body would be sliced in half. Things with Alicia hadn’t ended well last time and he was terrified of what she would do now that she was out. Chloe may had said that the online records said that she was indeed better, but Clark didn’t completely trust that finding. Alicia knew things about him that no one else did. Now he was just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

 

“You know, I came here first last night.” Her voice was imbued with faked innocence as she walked up the steps of his loft, Clark stiffening at her presence. “I was quite surprised to find you at a party.”

 

“Yeah, well, things change.”

 

“Things don’t change that much, Clark. You still have your secret, you’re still alone.”

 

His gaze hardened. “I’m not alone. I never was. And speaking of secrets, were you actually released from Belle Reve or did you just teleport your way out?”

 

Sighing, she held up her wrist. “Believe it or not, I was released. This bracelet stops me from using my powers. Clark, the whole time I was in Belle Reve, you gave me hope. The idea that there’s someone out there like me, someone who’s different…”

 

“Alicia, last time I saw you, you tried to kill me and Lana.” Her words tugged at his heart strings and a few months ago, they probably would have made him forgive her. He knew what it was like to be different, to find solace in finding someone who was different like you. “I’m not just going to forgive and forget. If you’re really cured, that’s great, but—“

 

“Please, Clark. I just… I want to escape this town and I want to do it with you. You’re my hope, you’re what got me through treatment. There’s too much judgement and my doctor…”

 

Clark’s brow furrowed. “What about your doctor, Alicia?”

 

“He… I think in his mind, he thought that if I was out, he could be with me. But I don’t want him, I want you.”

 

“Alicia…” Clark shook his head, taking a step back. “I’ll help you go to the review board of the hospital if you need, report him, but I’m not going to be with you. I’m not running away with you.”

 

“Clark, please!” She lunged forward, grabbing onto his hand. “Please you can protect me.”

 

His protest died in his mouth as a familiar sensation took over his body, eyes flashing red. Smirking, he glanced down at the ring that she had slipped onto his finger. “Was that your plan?” He chuckled. “You drug me with red meteor rock and I’ll do your bidding?”

 

Alicia shrunk at his calculating glare, the glint in his eyes telling her that he thought that situation was comical. This wasn’t how she had planned on this going down. “Clark…”

 

“You know, for a girl as smart as you, you have no idea how this little rock really affects me, do you?” He towered over her, his stance intimidating her. “Red meteor rock removes my inhibitions, it doesn’t make me your play thing. It makes me go after what I want, no questions asked. And guess what, Alicia?” His mouth ticked up into a devilish smirk. “You’re not what I want.”

 

She called after him as he sped out of the barn at full speed. Gulping, she tried to think of where he could be going so that she could follow him and take the ring off of him. Alicia had thought that his old insecurities were still there and that the red meteor rock would make him more susceptible to her suggestion to run away. But they weren’t. And now she had released a Clark without inhibitions into the world.

 

~~~

 

Lois was typing away furiously at the computer, trying to finish the new article she was writing for the Torch. She would never admit it, especially not to Chloe, but she had caught the journalism bug; She was even considering majoring in it when she finally went to Met U. A sudden draft blew through the room, causing Lois to look up. Her confusion lessened slightly when she saw Clark standing in front of her.

 

“Hey, Smallville, what are you doing here?”

 

He smirked, walking over to her desk until he leaned against it, leaning so far forward that his face was directly in front of hers, his body crowding her. “The better question is, what you’re still doing here, Lois?”

 

Pushing her chair back, she looked at him curiously. Clark was acting strange, very strange. “Are you feeling okay?”

 

Her attempt to put space between them was foiled when Clark stepped around the desk, turning her chair around his face him. “I’ve never felt better, Lo. In fact, there’s only one thing that would make my mood better right now.”

 

Gulping at the roughish grin that took over his face, Lois couldn’t help but ask. “And what’s that?”

 

“Well,” he simpered, yanking her up out of her chair and causing her to fall into him, her breasts flattening against his chest. “I know that you don’t remember Chloe’s birthday party, but I do.” He chuckled lightly. “At least, the important parts.”

 

Lois attempted to rip her wrists out of his grip, only to find his hold on her remaining firm. When the hell did farm boy get so strong? She knew that he was strong, she saw him toss hay bails around like they were nothing, but she was pretty strong too. He should at least be struggling slightly, but if anything, he seemed to be amused by her attempts to escape. “You… You remember?” She stuttered.

 

“Oh, I remember all right.” One hand left her wrists, going down and pressing against the small of her back. She gasped as they were forced closer together, memories flooding her brain of the night they had met. In spite of her best intentions, she never could quite forget what he looked like naked and just what he was packing. “In fact,” Clark continued, amused at Lois’ profuse blushing. “I want to reenact it. Maybe it will help refresh your memory a bit.”

 

Before she could stall him further, his lips crashed down onto hers. Her eyes went wide as his lips massaged hers, Clark pulling her impossibly closer to him as he coaxed her to return the kiss. Eventually she did, her eyes fluttering closed as she allowed herself to become intoxicated by his kiss. Dear lord, possession or no possession, how could she forget being kissed like this? Who the hell taught the farm boy how to kiss? Lois had had her fair share of hot and heavy kisses, but this was something else.

 

She moaned lowly against his mouth, Clark taking the opportunity to slip his tongue in, tasting her. With his precise and passionate movements, Lois lost all rational thought, free hand clinging to the back of his neck as all thoughts that something was wrong, that Clark was acting weird, flew straight out of her mind.

 

Meanwhile, Chloe was rushing anxiously through the school halls, hoping that Lois was still at the Torch where Chloe had left her. When Alicia had appeared in front of Chloe, crying hysterically about a mistake she had made, Chloe hadn’t known what to think. It was only when she heard that Alicia had drugged Clark with an inhibition releasing drug, thinking that it would make him susceptible to her suggestions, that Chloe had listened. Alicia hadn’t known where Clark had went, but she was worried and was hoping that Chloe did. So dismissing Alicia as quickly as possible, Chloe had fled to the place she thought Clark was most likely to go, praying to whatever higher power was out there that he was there. She’d deal with figuring out how to get the ring off of him later.

 

Skidding as she turned the corner, Chloe slammed open the door to the Torch, eyes widening at the sight before her. Oh, Lois was still there alright. And Clark had joined her. And they were in a passionate lip lock in the middle of the room. When Alicia had said that this drug was inhibition releasing, she wasn’t kidding. Chloe never thought she’d see the day that Clark manned up and made the first move with her cousin.

 

Acting quickly because sooner or later one of them would notice her presence, Chloe located the ring. Hoping that Clark was too distracted with making Lois’ knees weak to notice her sneaking up on him, she quickly wrapped the her hands around the ring, pulling it off of him.

 

Clark’s eyes widened as he noticed what was happening, acting too late to stop Chloe from removing the ring from his finger. He stumbled backwards as his eyes flashed red, panting as he fell onto the desk, bracing himself against the solid wood. Guilt in his eyes, he glanced at Lois, her cheeks flushed and her lips swollen.

 

“Are you okay, Clark?” Chloe asked, tactfully stepping around the elephant in the room as she slipped the ring into the box Alicia had given her.

 

“Thank you, Chloe. I’ll be okay in a minute.”

 

Lois frowned, puzzled, as she tried to compose herself. “Someone want to tell me what’s going on here?” She asked, reddening further as she realised that her voice was husky.

 

“Alicia drugged me.” Clark stated simply. “The ring… It makes me lose my inhibitions. She thought that if I was wearing it, I’d run away with her but—“

 

“That wasn’t what you really wanted.” Lois completed softly.

 

Noticing the awkward glances between the two, Chloe decided to interfere. “It’s just a good thing she called me and told me what to do if I found you. Now come on, let’s get home. I think we’ve all had enough excitement for the evening.”

 

~~~

 

After steadfastly ignoring each other the rest of the day and most of the next day, Lois finally gave in, cornering Clark in his loft.

 

“We need to talk, Clark.” She announced, watching as Clark looked furtively to the window and she tittered, wondering if he was really considering jumping out of the window to avoid confronting last night.

 

“Really? I don’t think we do. I was drugged and—“

 

In any other situation, she would have laughed and teased him over his nervousness. But not now, not when she was just as nervous inwardly as he was outwardly. “With an inhibition releasing drug, Clark.” She said softly. “And you revealed that we… kissed during Chloe’s birthday party too under that spell. And you know, if I didn’t kiss you back last night, I guess I could just say that it was all one sided, but I did and I enjoyed it and I found myself wishing that I remembered Chloe’s birthday.”

 

He gulped, tugging at the collar of his shirt. “Lois…”

 

“Look, Clark, we live together.” She stated bluntly. “We can’t not be in the same room together. We need to sort this out.”

 

Clark opened his mouth to reply, only for a small voice to speak before him.

 

“I hope I’m not interrupted anything.” Alicia blushed. “I just wanted to apologise to you, Clark. I shouldn’t have drugged you.”

 

“Well, that’s the understatement of the year.” Lois muttered, earning her a sharp look from Clark.

 

“Thank you for the apology, Alicia.” He accepted. “And you’re right, you shouldn’t have.”

 

“I… I had a talk with Chloe, of all people, and she told me that you can’t try to force people’s feelings. I just… You’ve always been the hero and…”

 

“Alicia, if you’re worried about Dr. McBride we can go to the police.” He insisted.

 

“And who’s going to believe the meteor freak who just got released from Belle Reve?”

 

“I do.” Lois interjected, noting the fear in Alicia’s voice. “I believe you.”

 

Shock was clear on Alicia’s face as she replied. “Thank you, Lois.”

 

“I knew I’d find you here.” Dr. McBride spoke up from the entrance to the barn. “I warned you to stay away from him, Alicia. He’s the object of your obsessions and being around him could cause a relapse.”

 

“No!” Alicia insisted, stumbling as she backed away from the doctor. “No, I won’t! I won’t relapse!”

 

Raising a gun and pointing it at Clark, Dr. McBride spoke again. “Alicia is my greatest achievement. When she came to me, her mind was fractured. I made it whole again. And you… You’ve undone that progress.”

 

“Clark hasn’t done anything!” Alicia protested. “He… He makes me feel normal! He’s the only one who has ever really known me. I’m the one who messed up! Me! Not Clark.”

 

“No!” Dr. McBride protested furiously. “I’m not going to let him keep hurting you!”

 

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Alicia replied.

 

“This ends now.” Dr. Mc Bride pulled the trigger and Lois and Clark watched in horror as Alicia teleported in front of Clark. They watched as the bullet soared through the air, imbedding itself in her shoulder, blood pouring out of the wound and seeping through the fabric of her shirt.

 

Acting quickly as Clark worked to stench the bleeding, Lois moved forward, easily disarming the distraught Dr. McBride and pushing him to the floor, hands behind his back. Knee on his back as one hand held his wrists together, she took out her phone, quickly dialling 911.

 

“911, what’s your emergency?” The operator asked.

 

“I’d like to report a shooting at the Kent Farm.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, super long chapter but it was so hard to fit everything I wanted into one!
> 
> But, I hope you all enjoyed it! This are about to get really interesting for Lois and Clark!


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois and Clark talk about the revelations of their kiss.

Lois sat nervously on the loft’s couch, feet tapping the floor as her legs jittered. She and Clark had successfully used their combined skills of denial and avoidance the past few weeks to delay the conversation about their kiss in the Torch. True, at first, they couldn’t continue their conversation, not with both of them so worried about Alicia and arresting Dr. MrBride. But once that was resolved, the delaying continued. It had been nice for a while, casually skirting around the topic that was plaguing both of them. But Lois, self-proclaimed Queen of denial, found it surprisingly exhausting.

 

With the denial and avoidance came a loss of their normal relationship. Their verbal sparring became stilted, both now uncertain over what lines they could cross. Lois felt that she could no longer punch him, in fact, they both seemed to have started evading all physical contact. And frankly, she was tired of it. This new awkward friendship that they had fallen into needed to be solved and fast.

 

Clark stopped abruptly at the sight of Lois waiting for him in his loft. Clearly, she had decided that their awkwardness needed to be solved now and that they couldn’t remain in denial any longer. And while Clark didn’t exactly disagree with that, he didn’t want to have this conversation.

 

He was afraid of losing her. Chloe had confronted him as gently as possible earlier in the week, saying that she wasn’t sure why the ring affected him and only him, but that she would take a page from Lois’ book and leave him alone. Before she left however, she had given him a strict warning about her cousin. Namely, break Lois’ heart and Chloe would break his legs. So, to say that Clark was afraid was an understatement.

 

Most people in Clark’s life got hurt one way or another. It seemed to be the curse of knowing him. And Clark liked having Lois around; She made him feel normal, accepted. He wished that they had their banter back. He wished that they could go back to before he got infected with red kryptonite and kissed her. But he couldn’t and now he was terrified that he was going to lose her.

 

“Lois?” Clark asked, taking the final steps into his loft. “What are you doing up here?”

 

“We need to talk, Smallville.” She announced, patting the spot next to her on the couch. “I know that you’ve been busy with Alicia’s psycho psychiatrist and her injury and then the whole recruitment to Met U thing. And don’t forget you and Chloe saving me from being sent to the sewers by the Teflon Tailback.” Lois chuckled nervously, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Anyway, we need to talk.”

 

“Don’t forget you running over a dog, Lois.” He smirked.

 

“Hey!” She exclaimed. “I didn’t run over him, I merely hit him. Besides, he turned out just fine and now you have a Scooby to your Shaggy.”

 

Rolling his eyes, Clark replied. “Whatever you say, Lois.”

 

An uncomfortable silence blanketed the room as they fidgeted on the couch. Clark snuck glances at Lois before quickly looking out the window and Lois, infuriated that every time she looked his way he turned away, threw her hands in the air. “Okay, Clark, I’m not good with uncomfortable silences, and we don’t normally have those, so we really need to get this situation solved, okay?”

 

“Okay.”

 

“I mean. We’re friends. We live together. My cousin used to be practically in love with you. Up until recently, all I heard was how obsessed with Lana you were.” Lois rambled, bolting up from the couch and beginning to pace across the loft. “This is insane. The idea of you and me is insane. I mean, you were drugged!”

 

Clark swallowed slowly. “It was an inhibition releasing drug.”

 

“Exactly!” She exclaimed. “You were under the influence, so it can’t be viewed as consensual. I think we should just shove it under the rug, you know? Pretend it didn’t happen and just go back to being friends. I mean, you’re a good kisser, Smallville, don’t get me wrong but us? No, that’s like hot fudge and halibut.”

 

“I take it I’m the halibut?” He smirked.

 

Lois paused in her frantic pacing to reply. “Of course. And hot fudge and halibut don’t go together. So really, this should all just be forgotten about and we should just go back to normal.”

 

He frowned, eyebrows furrowing. “Correct me if I’m wrong, Lois, but isn’t that what we have been doing? Deny, ignore, move on?”

 

“I—“ Lois went to deny, only for her hands to drop defeatedly to her sides. “Well…”

 

“And hasn’t that not been working? Hence you ambushing me in my loft?”

 

“Clark—“

 

“Lois, it was an inhibition releasing drug. Unfortunately, I’ve come in contact with it before.” In fact, he’d spent an entire summer on it. Ignoring Lois’ shocked look at his admittance, he continued. “And as hard as it was for me to do, I’ve accepted that everything I do on it, I want to do. It doesn’t make me do things I wouldn’t otherwise, it just gives me the confidence, or in some cases, the disregard for the possible consequences of my actions, to act as I want to.”

 

Her mouth fell open as she watched him struggle with his words, running his hands through his hair in frustration. His words weren’t coming easily, Clark obviously weighing out each of his words carefully. His past experience with the drug surprised her, but if Lois had to bet, it probably had something to do with the summer that he ran away. Clark, despite his ‘yes ma, yes pa’ farm boy routine, had some secrets.

 

“And I…” Clark stopped. “And from what I remember of the possession, I knew something was wrong, but I kept seeing flashes of you, of Lois, coming through the possession and then when combined with the whole dancing and um… frankly,” he coughed uncomfortably, his face turning red, “your attire.” Lois blushed, remembering the outfit that she had woken up in. “It just made it easier to well…”

 

“Make out with me?” Lois raised an eyebrow. 

 

“Well, yes.” He replied abashedly. “And well, when I was on the drug and kissed you, you could have pushed away. You could have punched me or kneed me or something.” The truth was it wouldn’t have hurt him in the slightest and more than likely would have hurt her, but it would have at least caught his attention enough for him to have pulled away slightly.

 

“What are you trying to say, Clark?” She sat back down onto the couch, turning to face him as he flushed and stuttered through his explanation.

 

“I just… I don’t think we can ignore it.” He shrugged. “We’ve been trying and it hasn’t been working. And I know the idea of us is… Scary. But I think that there might be something here. I mean, there’s clearly attraction.”

 

Lois smirked. “Well, you aren’t exactly hard to look at.”

 

“You’re not too bad yourself.” He flirted, shoving her shoulder with his. “I just… And you know, we’re friends too and in spite of living with each other, we haven’t killed each other yet.”

 

“So what do you suggest, we date?”

 

“I think we owe it to our two hazy make-out sessions to go on a non-hazy date.”

 

“You mean one not influenced by magical possessions or exes who slipped you a mickey?”

 

“Exactly.” He sighed in relief, thankful to have mostly gotten through one of the most embarrassing conversations of his life alive and only slightly worse for wear.

 

“Well,” Lois considered, an evil glint flashing in her eyes. She wanted to know if Clark kissed the same way sober as he did high. “I think before we go on a date, we should see if that chemistry is still there when we’re both in control.”

 

Clark gulped as she leaned towards him, unconsciously leaning away until she had to practically crawl on top of him to get close to his face. He smiled nervously as he remembered the last time they were in this position; When his parents were away and Lois had talked him into a drinking game. It had been hard enough for him then, and now here she was, in her right mind, straddling him, hands gripping his shoulders.

 

He was right, Lois Lane was going to be the death of him.

 

“Just relax, farm boy, and let the city girl show you how it’s done.”

 

With a final smirk, her lips descended onto his. Both moaned at the initial contact, his hands moving to grab her waist and pull her flush against him, her fingers digging into his back. The kiss was slow, sensual, in what both would consider their first proper kiss. Their passion was fought back by their tenuous approach to their changing relationship, the obvious chemistry between the pair fighting back just as strongly.

 

The realisation of their dangerous position reached both of them at the same time, Clark and Lois pulling away from each other with a gasp. Pushing away to give Clark a bit of breathing room without getting off of him, Lois caught her breath, pulling her shirt back down and straightening it out.

 

“So,” Lois stated, “clearly the uh… The chemistry between us isn’t dependent on magic or drugs.”

 

“Clearly.” Clark confirmed breathily, his husky voice sending shivers down her spine.

 

Jumping off of him, Lois went to the far end of the loft, tucking her hair behind her ears. “So um, when’s the date going to be, Smallville?”

 

“Date?” He asked, brain still fuzzy from their lip lock. At the look she shot him, Clark was quick to scramble his thoughts back together. “Right! Date. How about Friday? There’s a drive-in in Granville and it’s far enough away that we won’t, you know, have the whole town descending on us. I can just tell my parents that you’ve never been to a drive-in and that we’re going with some friends.”

 

“Trying to cop a feel, Smallville?” Lois quirked an eyebrow, trying to her best not to laugh at his obvious horror to her insinuation.

 

“Lois!” He exclaimed.

 

“Relax, Clark.” She teased. “I think your plan sounds good.”

 

“So Friday then?” He confirmed.

 

“Friday.” She replied.

 

Clark watched as Lois seemed to debate with herself, tossing her head from side to side before coming to a conclusion. Muttering a few choice words under her breath, she lunged forward, pressing a quick, sweet kiss to his lips before flying down the stairs. Once the shock from the sweetness of her gesture died down, Clark chuckled as she flew like a bat out of hell out of the barn.

 

Yes, Lois Lane was going to be the death of him. But he was going to enjoy every minute of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So good news! I've finished the planned sequel to this! 
> 
> I might do some sort of in-between thing at some point about Lois' adventures but we'll see.
> 
> But, what that means is that I'll probably start updating this story twice a week! It will be a bit unregular for the next couple of weeks because at the end of March I'm visiting a friend without my laptop and then I have a friend in town almost a week after that. And then I have exams FOR MY FINAL YEAR HOLY FUCKING SHIT so writing abilities will be sparse. BUT I hope to get this story and its sequel out before I leave for three weeks interrailing but if not I promise to get it all out by July ish.
> 
> The next chapter is more hopeless fluff and I'll probably update on Monday!


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois and Clark have their first date.

Clark sat impatiently on the couch as he waited for Lois to finish getting ready. However, the longer she took to get ready, the harder it was for Clark to deny the nerves that he was feeling. He had told his parents that they were going out to dinner then to the drive-in with some guys from the football team and their girlfriends. Clark had been invited along but since he didn’t have a girlfriend, his friends had suggested that he bring Lois. After all, he had explained, Lana was currently dating someone and he couldn’t exactly bring along Chloe, who had been less than subtle about her feelings for him in the past. It was a thin alibi, but one his parents seemed to buy and one that couldn’t be checked easily. Plus, it excused the collared shirt that he was wearing.

 

“Who are you going with again, Sweetie?” Martha asked from the kitchen.

 

“Just some guys from the football team, Mom. We were going to hang out but then their girlfriends wanted to go see this movie at the drive-in so plans changed.”

 

“Uh-huh.” She replied knowingly, casting a glance at her fidgeting son. “And what movie’s playing?”

 

“ _The Blob._ ” Clark rolled his eyes. “Lois is looking forward to it. Apparently they’re showing classics the—”

 

Martha smirked as the rest of her son’s reply got lost as Lois walked down the stairs. Dressed casually in a pair of dark jeans and a red halter top, the simplicity of her outfit didn’t seem to matter to Clark as he stood up from the couch, bumbling through a compliment.

 

“You look great, Lois.” He grinned dumbly, Lois smiling shyly in return. All of a sudden remembering that his parents weren’t supposed to know that they were going on a date, Clark corrected himself. “Does this mean that you’re finally ready to go?”

 

Rolling her eyes, Lois punched his shoulder. “Yes, farm boy. Now come on, let’s get going.”

 

Ushering her into her jacket and grabbing his own, Clark quickly grabbed the keys and waved goodbye to his parents. Martha and Jonathan watched from the kitchen window as Clark opened the door for Lois before rushing around to the driver’s side of the truck.

 

“This isn’t a group hangout, is it?” Jonathan asked.

 

“Nope.” Martha replied, stifling a laugh at her husband’s horrified face.

 

“They’re going on a date, aren’t they?”

 

“Yep.”

 

Jonathan groaned, dropping his head onto the counter. “Great, now we have two teenagers of the opposite sex living together and dating.”

 

Martha chuckled as she patted her husband’s back. “Now Jonathan, I like Lois. I think she’s good for Clark. Besides, I trust them.”

 

“Yeah.” He grumbled. “I did too before they realised that the other one was dateable.”

 

“Don’t worry, Jonathan. I think everything is going to work out the way it’s supposed to.”

 

~~~

 

Dinner went smoothly. It was normal, an everyday occurrence. They often ate most of their meals together due what Lois called their co-habitation. Laughing over a couple of burgers was nothing new for the pair. It wasn’t until they were at the drive-in, the bright lights of the screen illuminating them as the opening credits played, that it really struck home that they were on a date.

 

“So,” Clark cleared his throat. “Why are you looking forward to this movie so much?”

 

“Smallville,” Lois chastised. “This is classic sci-fi.”

 

Raising an eyebrow, he asked quizzically. “Really?”

 

“Really.” She replied. Turning to face him, Lois brushed her hair over her shoulder before speaking, gesturing wildly. “So basically, the blob comes from outer space in this meteor right? And it basically just devours its way through this small town because it eats everything in sight. But, the two teenagers who discover it, well no one believes them at first. Until eventually, it destroys the entire town and they take care of it by discovering that it’s weakness is cold, so they get the army to air lift it to the artic where they leave it. But the entire film ends with a question mark, so you don’t really know if the blob’s really taken care of or not. You just have to watch it.”

 

“Thanks for the spoilers, Lois.” Clark teased, wrapping his arm around her shoulders tentatively as the movie started

 

“Shut up.” Lois replied, pulling back to punch him. “Good thing you have such an old-fashioned truck.” At his confused look, she continued. “I mean, if you didn’t we’d be in separate seat wells and you couldn’t put your arm around me and—“

 

“Lois?” Clark raised an eyebrow.

 

“Shut up?” She asked. At his nod, she mimed zipping her mouth shut before tentatively settling into his embrace.

 

Lois watched carefully as Clark watched the action play out on the screen. Odd emotions seemed to flicker across his face, but he seemed to overall be enjoying the movie. Satisfied, she finally let herself relax into him, resting her head against his shoulder. Sensing her movement, Clark pulled her in tighter, hand rubbing gently up and down her arm. Lois sighed. Clark was warm, really warm. Her biggest fear was that they were going to get cold, sitting in a car in winter watching a film, but Clark was like her own personal space heater.

 

“Do you ever think that something like that fell with the meteors shower in Smallville?” She asked quietly.

 

Clark froze at her question, Lois’ brow puzzling in confusion. Gulping, he thought of the best way to answer her question. At a young age, Clark had gotten used to watching movies about aliens with his friends. After all, Pete was a pretty big fan of disaster movies. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how he looked at it, humans never quite seemed to get what aliens looked like quite right. Or at least, why Kryptonians looked like; Not even that humans in general knew that the planet had once existed and had had intelligent life.

 

Still, it was disconcerting that people associated things like the blob with outer space. And the fact that Lois was questioning if something came down with the meteors when what did come down with them was, in fact, her current companion, was not just ironic, but disconcerting.

 

After Pete couldn’t handle his secret, Clark had been careful to make sure that no one discovered anything suspicious. He didn’t want to lose another friend the way he did Pete. Clark liked to think that one day he would find someone with whom he trusted everything with and while his mother did seem certain that Lois could handle him, extraterrestrial origins and all, he couldn’t help but be scared. He liked Lois. He really, really did. And he trusted her, so much so that it scared him. But what if she didn’t react well to the whole ‘I came down with the meteor shower’ thing? Could he just say that? Say that he came down in the meteor shower?

 

“Clark?” Lois said, noticing his silence. Shaking his head, Clark looked down at her, noticing her concern. “Hey,” she continued, “where did you go there?”

 

“No where.” He replied. “I was just thinking about what you said.”

 

“And?”

 

“Who knows?” He answered, skirting around the issue. It was too soon. And he definitely wasn’t going to tell her in the middle of a movie about a blob from outer space that ate an entire town. “The universe is a big place.”

 

“I’ve always believed in life on other planets.” Lois shrugged, not noticing that her answer effectively rendered Clark speechless. “I mean, it’s rather self-centred to think we’re the only intelligent life forms in the universe. As you said, it’s a big place.”

 

“It doesn’t scare you?” Clark asked, prodding gently. “That you know, there’s these things out there. They could be all powerful and hell-bent on destruction and—“

 

“Clark, I don’t know if you’ve looked at humans recently, but we aren’t doing so great on the whole destruction thing.”

 

He reluctantly agreed. “So, if you met someone and later found out they were an alien, you’d accept them? You wouldn’t be scared?”

 

“Well, yeah.” She replied, pulling back to look at his face. “If I knew them before knowing they were an alien, I’d understand not telling me and I’d accept them. I mean, with movies like _Independence Day_ , I’d imagine they’d be quite careful about who they reveal their origins to and I’d feel honoured that they trusted me, not matter how long it took them to tell me. I can’t say I wouldn’t be hurt that it took so long or a little scared depending on my relationship with this hypothetical alien, but…”

 

“You never cease to surprise me.” Clark commented, meeting Lois’ eyes.

 

“And is that a good thing?”

 

He smiled widely in return, abating her obvious nerves at his observation. “That’s a very good thing, Lois.”

 

Fighting a blush and cursing that he seemed to be the only person who could get her to blush so easily, Lois decided to turn the tables. “So, Smallville, I know you’re parents raised you to be a respectable gentleman, but isn’t it about time that you at least tried to cop a feel? I mean, we’re in the dark, we’re at a drive-in, isn’t that what people do here?”

 

Delighting in his reddening face, Lois pushed forward with her line of discussion. “I mean after all, you did tell me that you’d give me the full drive-in experience.”

 

“I did say that, didn’t I?” Clark smirked, recovering from his embarrassment. “Besides, you already told me how the movie ends.”

 

Before she could once again voice that he asked her, Clark planted his lips firmly to hers, effectively shutting her up. Lois moaned into the kiss that was every bit as all-consuming as the last one they shared. His hands quickly found her waist, thumbs pushing up the hem of her shirt as they massaged small circles into her hips. A tingle shot up and down her spine at the contact and she pressed up against him, smirking into the kiss as she felt his hands wander from the more respectable area of her waist to the curve of her ass, cupping it firmly before hoisting her on top of him.

 

Lois gasped at the movement but quickly smiled down at him, enjoying the rare chance to see Clark from this view point. She was a tall girl, but somehow Clark made her feel small. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Lois ground into him, relishing in the primal moan that escaped Clark’s mouth. Hands still remaining on her ass, Clark resumed the kiss, Lois’ hands entangling in his hair.

 

A gentle knock on the window followed by the light-hearted laughter of the elderly couple who owned the drive-in broke the moment, Lois and Clark blushing sheepishly as they disentangled themselves.

 

“Movie ended about fifteen minutes ago, Son.” The older man informed Clark, causing his face to redden even further.

 

“Sorry, Sir, we’ll be on our way.” Clark replied, coughing to take the husky edge out of his voice as Lois took the time to straighten herself out.

 

“That’s quite alright, Son. Why do you think I decided to preserve this theatre besides all of the good memories with the missus here?” The woman smacked him in retribution, the man chuckling as he replied. “Don’t worry, we do remember what its like to be young.”

 

Clark stumbled through a goodbye as Lois sat mortified in the passenger seat. Shifting the truck into gear, he banged his head gently against the steering wheel before turning to look at Lois. “We’re never going to a drive-in again.”

 

“Agreed.” She replied. “Though you have to admit, that was pretty funny. They were a cute old couple.”

 

“Just be thankful that they weren’t farmers and thus don’t know my parents.”

 

“Good point.” She replied. “However, getting caught necking asides, I enjoyed tonight.”

 

“Yeah well, it’s not really a drive-in unless we got caught necking, now is it?”

 

Lois smiled at Clark as she appraised him. “You’re learning quick, farm boy.”

 

“I had a good teacher.” He smirked.

 

Climbing carefully into the bitch seat, Lois re-buckled before leaning her head against Clark’s shoulder. Clark smiled down at her new position, keeping one hand on the wheel as he wrapped his other arm around her.“What do you say we go out next weekend? Not a drive-in?” 

 

“I’d say you have a date.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, did it live up to expectations?
> 
> Also, just my luck: It's my 21st birthday today and I have a head cold! Yay!!!


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dr. Swann dies and Clark decides that he needs to go to China to chase after the other stone.

Clark watched with reluctance as Martha put the college brochures in front of him, beginning to lecture him on making decisions, acknowledging that while giving up his football scholarships was hard, it was the right decision and that he needed to now make decisions on what he will do after high school even though he won’t accept any football scholarships. Clark heard his mother and understood her fears of him becoming complacent about his future, but he also knew that he wasn’t a normal teen deciding what to do after high school.

 

His parents were treating Clark’s decision to go to college as if that was the obvious choice. But recently, Clark had been thinking more and more about the stones and retrieving them and figuring out what this training was that his birth father wanted him to do. His vague discussions with Lois were casting a new light on the situation, a light not fuelled by hatred for what Jor-El had done in the past and his own parent’s fears about their son being taken away from them.

 

“Clark,” Martha waved her hand in front of her son’s face, breaking his train of thought. “With Lois out of town, you don’t have any excuses.” 

 

Clark blushed at her statement. While neither Lois nor Clark had told his parents that they had started dating, both of them had clearly picked up on something, dropping subtle hints ever since their first date.

 

“Mom—“ He started, only to be interrupted by the door. “I’ll get it.”

 

Clark quickly moved to the front door, knowing that his mother knew that he was avoiding the conversation. “Hello?”

 

“Clark Kent?” The delivery man asked.

 

“Yes.” Clark replied cautiously.

 

“Sign here.”

 

Clark quickly signed and took the envelope, thanking the delivery man before closing the door and returning to the kitchen table. “It’s from Dr. Swann.” He frowned.

 

“Clark, Martha,” Jonathan called from the living room, “I think you need to see this.”

 

Rounding the corner, Clark’s frown deepened. The words of the newscasters barely reached him as he looked down at the letter in his hand. Virgil Swann had died, that’s why he had this letter. Now he only needed to know what was in it; What did Dr. Swann send him after his death? “I don’t understand. I talked to him last week.”

 

“I’m sorry, Clark.” Jonathan said. “I truly am.”

 

“We both are.” Martha added.

 

Clark sat down with a sigh. “There was still so much I still need to learn about Krypton…” His voice trailed off, the little voice in his head reminding him that Jor-El could probably answer any questions that he had. Grimacing at the thought, Clark tore open the letter, wondering what Swann had left him upon his death.

 

Pulling out a folded piece of paper and a small blue bag, Clark opened the letter, placing the bag gently next to him. “Kal-El,” Clark read, “I wish I could continue this journey with you, but now you must seek out your father.” Ignoring his parent’s tense reactions to the sentence, he continued on. “If I sheltered you from him for too long, forgive me. Jor-El sent you on a mission and he’s the only one who can help you finish it. I am returning something that is rightfully yours.” Clark choked on the last sentence. “I know that it will lead you to your destiny.”

 

With tremulous hands, Clark pulled the octagonal disk out of the bag, turning it over in his fingers nervously. “I’m going to the caves.” He announced, speeding out of the house before either of his parents could protest.

 

As the door slid open to the caves, a bright light shining out, Clark gulped. He was finally going to face his father without the threat of someone he loved being hurt. Approaching the octagonal alter, the cave wall closed behind him, sealing him in the room. Clark placed the key into the slot, causing a white light to burst forth from the alter and envelop him.

 

“I knew you would return, my son.”

 

“Why do you send me to find this?” Clark yelled over the whirling vortex the light created. “Why are you telling me to collect the stones?”

 

“Because you may be the last survivor of a great civilisation.”

 

“A great civilisation that destroyed itself!”

 

“As will yours,” Jor-El spoke ominously, “if you continue to refuse your mission. The knowledge of our civilisation is encoded in three stones brought to Earth and hidden at the far reaches of the world. Greed will drive others to hunt the stones, but if the humans should unite them before you, they will not be able to withstand the temptation and will drive the world to famine, war, and the Earth’s ultimate destruction. You must find the other two stones. The fate of your world lies in your hands, Kal-El.”

 

Clark froze as his nerves alighted. This was what he feared. This was the thought that struck him when Lois pointed out that his ‘family heirlooms’ were clearly valuable if other people were going after them. He left the cave in a hurry, unable to process the other questions swirling through his head. He needed to collect the stones, but what would happen after he collected them? What was this destiny that Jor-El kept speaking of? Was he really destined to rule?

 

~~~

 

He ended up in town, sitting in a corner booth of the Talon, nursing a cup of black coffee. Thoughts lost to nothing but the stones and why he was sent to this planet, Clark barely realised that his hearing had picked up the conversation upstairs. He was about to tune it out and respect Lana’s privacy, but something about the conversation made him stop and listen. And the longer he listened, the more concerned he grew.

 

Somehow Lana was involved in this mess. And Lex and Jason were working together to retrieve the stones after having discovered an apparent lead in China. Fear gripping him at what a person like Lex Luthor could do if he assembled the stones, Clark swiftly left the coffee shop. No matter his feelings towards it, it was time that he embraced his heritage.

 

“I thought we agreed that you would not go back down into those caves.” Jonathan growled when Clark arrived home, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

 

“Dad, I couldn’t just ignore Swann’s message and—“ Clark started, only to be cut off.

 

“Look, I know that you trust him, but, Clark, he doesn’t know Jor-El like we do.”

 

“Dad, I haven’t forgotten what Jor-El’s done in the past but… I’m afraid of what will happen if we continue to ignore him.”

 

“Listen, I realise that he’s your birth father, all right? But he’s never had your best interests at heart.”

 

“But he’s never lied to me either.” Clark replied, watching as his words silenced his father. “Look, maybe the trials have a point, maybe he’s preparing me to find these stones. People are looking for them. I overhead Lana and Jason arguing earlier. Jason and Lex are going to China to look for one of the stones. Jor-El wants me to collect the stones for a reason, I can’t just ignore it anymore. They’re meant for me and I don’t want someone like Lex getting his hands on them.”

 

Martha frowned. “Are you really sure you want to open all this up again? The last few months, ever since you walked away from Jor-El, it’s like we got the old Clark back.”

 

“Mom, as much as I like to pretend that I’m normal and liked playing football, I’m not normal. I’ve already let one of these stones slip through my hands, I’m not going to let another one. They’re meant for me.”

 

“Even if you were to find the stones, son,” Jonathan reasoned, “we have no idea what’s going to happen when you put them together.”

 

“I know, Dad. But if I don’t find them, someone else will.” Clark paused, gauging their reaction to his plan to go after the stones. Encouraged, he told them the rest of his plan. “That’s why I’m going to go to China to get to the stone before Lex and Jason do.”

 

“China!” Jonathan bellowed.

 

Lois frowned as she pulled up to the farm house, hearing Jonathan shouting angrily. She really didn’t want to walk into a family feud and she was confused as to why Jonathan was so riled up. However, she did need to tell them that her visit to her father had gotten severely shortened. She knocked timidly on the door, shocked to see father and son in battle, Jonathan’s face red with rage. Martha smiled at Lois sympathetically, quickly moving to ease the tension.

 

“Lois, I thought you were going to be with your father the whole weekend.”

 

“Yeah, about that.” Lois chuckled, uneasy as she felt the palpable tension in the room. “The weekend visit got cut short after breakfast.” Rolling her eyes, she explained further. “The General got called away on some manoeuvres and then got called for some strategy session last minute in Washington, so I decided to head back here instead of wait around and do nothing. But if I’m interrupting something I can leave and come back later?”

 

“That would be great, Lois.” Jonathan replied, only for Clark to contradict him.

 

“No, Dad.” He spoke. “Lois is fine. I’m going to China, with or without your approval. I have to do this.”

 

Lois’ brow furrowed as Jonathon’s face reddened further, his anger deepening. “What’s this about China?”

 

Clark paused as he turned to look at her. “You remember the uh, lawyers of my birth family and the heirlooms they want me to retrieve?”

 

Her puzzlement increasing as she saw his parents’ shocked faces, she nodded. “Yeah, is one of them in China?”

 

“I overheard Lana arguing with Jason about it, he and Lex are going to get it.”

 

“You can’t let Lex Luthor get ahold of your family heirlooms, Clark.” Eyeing Jonathan nervously, Lois hoped they wouldn’t kick her out for what she was about to offer. “If getting to China is a problem, there’s an ex-military pilot based out of Metropolis who owes me a few favours. I’m sure I could get you there. Hell, I’ll even come with you.”

 

“Lois—“ Clark interrupted.

 

“Clark, you couldn’t hurt a fly. I’m not going to let you face off with Lex alone. I mean, that is, if your parents don’t mind us going. I mean, Mr. Kent, I wouldn’t purposefully go against you but if Lex wants Clark’s biological family’s heirlooms they’re clearly important.”

 

Looking between the two stubborn teenagers, Jonathan came to a decision. “You two have the rest of the weekend. I want you back on Monday and you aren’t going to miss any school for it.”

 

~~~

 

Lois and Clark immediately went to the streets of Shanghai once their plane landed. Clark had been oddly quiet the whole flight, but Lois hadn’t wanted to push him, instead sleeping for most of it. Something was bothering him, some huge internal conflict; Lois could see it plain as day on his face. Clark wasn’t one to disrespect his parents. And he loved the Kents. Even knowing that Clark was adopted, Lois had never seen a happier, more cohesive family than the Kents. Lois thought that he was torn between loyalty to the parents who raised him and the desire to find out about where he came from.

 

Analysing the map Clark had carefully, Lois asked her way around the locals, thankful that the General had been stationed in Beijing a few years ago so that she was conversational in Mandarin. Finally, after several astonished gasps regarding the map Clark had, Lois had gotten them directions to the temple.

 

“Have you ever seen a picture of your birth parents, Smallville?” Lois asked curiously, hoping to open up the conversation to what was bothering Clark as they wound through busy streets.

 

Clark turned his head to look at her curiously. “I have of my father. I haven’t seen a picture of my mother but I have a vague memory of her, she was really beautiful. Long blonde hair, blue eyes. This is going to sound stupid but she kinda reminded me of an angel.”

 

“That’s not stupid, Clark. I think, to a certain extent, every mother seems like an angel. I think it’s a requirement for entry into motherhood.” Lois paused, speaking after a beat. Clark was clearly willing to talk about his birth mother, but seemed hesitant to talk about his birth father. “And what about your dad?”

 

He grimaced before replying. “I look just like him. We could almost pass for twins when he was my age.”

 

Lois eyed him up and down. “Well, at least I know which side of your family to thank for my arm candy now.”

 

Clark blushed profusely. “Lo-is!”

 

Lois shoved his shoulder. “Oh, relax, Smallville. I’m dating you for more than just your appearance.”

 

“So you think I’m hot?” He countered, having recovered from his embarrassment.

 

“Clark, did we or did we not make out for several hours in your barn the other night?” She raised an eyebrow, amused as he started to squirm. Taking a step closer to him, Lois’ lips brushed against his as she spoke. “I’m pretty sure you find me hot too.”

 

He gulped nervously, grabbing her shoulders and pushing her a respectful distance apart as he saw an elderly lady glare at them. “Let’s just go to the temple, Lois.”

 

They wandered around the temple, trying to be unobtrusive to its general happenings. Walking into an empty room of worship, Clark immediately scanned the room, Lois wandering aimlessly about. He stilled when he eyed Kyrptonian symbols on a painting with a growling dragon. Quickly x-raying through the painting, he found an idol.

 

“What exactly are we looking for, Clark? That map wasn’t exactly forthcoming.”

 

“There.”

 

Lois looked curiously at the painting as Clark approached it, wondering what he saw that she didn’t. She watched as he gently prodded the wall, surprised when it started to move. Her eyes widened further as an idol was revealed, the statue ornately decorated. Clark stumbled backwards, wincing, the green eyes of the idol glowing brightly.

 

She rushed forward to catch Clark before he fell, circling her arms under his. “Whoa, are you okay?”

 

“Yeah.” He croaked, grateful that she pulled him away from the idol. “Just lost my balance.”

 

Lois eyed him suspiciously, but said nothing. “See anything enlightening?”

 

Clark shook his head, taking another look at the idol now that he was far enough away for the harmful effects of Kryptonite to not harm him. “Lois,” he asked, “go hold the map up against the idol’s clothing.” He studied it carefully, comparing the map to the idol. “Lo, it wasn’t a map to the temple, it’s a drawing of the temple through the tree.”

 

“So that’s why no one could find the stone here.”

 

“The artist would have been standing where I am now.” He mused. “What if it’s located at the base of the tree?”

 

Clark was about to reply when a piercing ringing sounded, hurting his sensitive ears. Grimacing, he stumbled out of the room, making sure that he was out of sight before speeding to the source of the noise.

 

“Clark!” Lois called after him, concerned. When she didn’t find him in the hallway, she looked at the map that she still had in her hands. “Well, I guess it’s time to find the base of the tree.”

 

~~~

 

Clark stumbled to a stop in the gardens, noticing Lana standing in the middle of the gardens, stone in her hand. “Lana?” He asked incredulously.

 

Lana whipped her head to look at him. “Nobody has sacrificed as much as I have for these stones.”

 

“Isobel.” He grimaced. “They don’t belong to you.”

 

She cackled, throwing her head back. “And you think they were meant for you? They were left for nobody. The god of the temple hid them for his return.”

 

“You’re wrong.” He stated firmly. “They were left for someone. And it’s not you.”

 

Enraged, Lana called upon swords from a nearby statue, the swords flying towards her. She sent one towards him, Clark barely managing to dodge the projectile. Catching it, they began to spar, swords clashing. Clark managed to disarm her, sending her flying into the wall. He sped after her, managing to rip the stone out of her pocket. Lana panicked as she saw the stone fall to the ground.

 

Lois ran out into the gardens, surprised to find Clark and Lana fighting over what appeared to be a stone. She didn’t even know Lana was in China, but how she was acting certainly didn’t look like Lana’s behaviour. Lois grimaced as she sprinted forward. It looked like the evil witch ancestor was back.

 

With a last burst of energy as Lois saw Clark and Lana reaching for the stone, she lunged forward, landing a solid kick in Lana’s side. Lana stumbled to the side, giving Clark the opportunity to secure the stone in his hand. Lois panted, catching her breath as Clark got back to his feet after checking to make sure that Lana was okay.

 

Pocketing the stone, Clark turned to thank Lois. “Thank you.” He said softly, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

 

“One save at a time, Smallville.” She grinned up at him. “Now come on, let’s get back to the airport and fly back before your parents worry too much.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! I won't be able to update for a while because I'll be visiting a friend's family and I won't be bringing my laptop (at least 99.9% sure at this moment that I won't, I have no reason to). BUT I will update as soon as I get back home.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the update!


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark finished collecting the stones and makes a deal with Jor-El.

“Jor-El!” Clark yelled as he entered the inner chamber. “We need to talk about what happens when I collect the stones!”

 

“Are you refusing your destiny, my son?”

 

Clark shook his head, biting back his gut response to the voice that passed as his birth father. “No, Father. I have collected the second stone. But I need to know what happens when I find the final one.”

 

“The stones will form together to create a crystal. This crystal, when placed at the northern-most regions of this planet, will form your Fortress of Solitude. There, you will begin your training.”

 

“Jor-El, I can’t just drop my human life! I have graduation coming up and my parents, my friends…”

 

“Your training is very important, Kal-El.”

 

Growling in frustration, Clark ran his hands through his hair. He gave Lois his word that when confronting Jor-El, or as she knew of him, the lawyers, that’d he’d do his best to remain level-headed. That was hard, right about now. “Can I… Jor-El, if I collect the last stone, can I come to the training in my own time? I need to graduate high school for my friends and family, please. After the ceremony, I’ll do my training, but I can’t… I can’t just leave!”

 

“Very well, my son. At sun-rise of the day after your high school graduation, I expect you to return here to begin your training. But collecting the stones is incredibly important, my son, and must be done swiftly.”

 

“I have the second stone with me, when I put it in the chamber, will it tell me the location of the third stone?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Clark took a deep breath as he stepped forward, taking the stone out of his jacket, a stone he would have lost if it hadn’t been for Lois coming in at the last moment, no questions asked. He owed her so much. As soon as the final stone was secure, he would have to thank her. Placing it next to the other stone, Clark watched as the stones lit up just before a high-pitched noise pierced the air.

 

Intuitively, he sped towards the source of the sound. Clark stopped at the building across from Luthorcorp, surprised to hear the noise coming from the top floor. Though, he begrudged, it shouldn’t have surprised him. Both Luthors had a thing for power. With a running start, Clark jumped to the top of the Luthorcorp building, surprising himself with his own power.

 

“Wow.” Clark whispered as he skidded to a stop. He always knew that he was more powerful than he let himself be, but seeing evidence of his hidden strength always surprised him. Who knew what else he could do? Maybe going to train with Jor-El would be a good thing and help him gain complete control of his abilities.

 

Clearing his head of his stupor, Clark broke the lock on the roof access door before speeding his way down to Lionel’s office, using his heat vision to disable security cameras as he moved. He sucked in a breath as he arrived at Lionel’s penthouse office. Clark had been hoping that Lionel wouldn’t be in, but apparently he was. Taking a tentative and silent step forward, his body froze as Lionel turned around to face him.

 

Clark peered curiously at Lionel, whose eyes were glazed over. “Kal-El.” Lionel spoke, his voice omniscient. “I am an emissary for Jor-El.”

 

“What?” He questioned.

 

“When you combined the stones of Air and Fire, this body was downloaded with Kryptonian knowledge.”

 

“Okay…” Clark accepted. It was unnerving, watching Lionel Luthor act on his behalf, moving across the room and collecting the stone. The only reason Clark assumed that it was true that Lionel was acting as an emissary for Jor-El was that the real Lionel Luthor would have asked how the hell Clark got into the building.

 

“This rightfully belongs to you, Kal-El.” Lionel said with a flourish as he presented to Clark the final stone. “The last son of Krypton.”

 

Clark grimaced at the moniker, before accepted the stone out of Lionel’s proffered hand. Speeding out of there as quickly as possible, Clark didn’t see Lionel return to his original self, shocked and confused as to why he was standing and the stone was missing.

 

~~~

 

“Jor-El! I retrieved the last stone.” Clark announced when he returned to the caves. “Lionel Luthor said that he is your emissary!”

 

“Yes, my son.” Jor-El replied. “Lionel Luthor was imbued with Kryptonian knowledge to guide you if the need arises.”

 

“So he is not Sageeth?”

 

“No.”

 

Clark sighed; His suspicions had been correct. It was Lex, not Lionel, who was destined to be his enemy. And as much as Clark fought against his destiny, he wasn’t about to take that chance with Lex.

 

“Put the final stone in the alter, Kal-El.” Jor-El commanded. “The crystal will form, but as long as you do not grab hold of it, your training can wait.”

 

Nodding, Clark placed the stone in the final slot, watching as a flurry of red, blue and yellow lights lit up the chamber. A small, clear crystal was left in the place of the stones and he wondered how the entire knowledge of a civilisation could be placed into such a tiny rock.

 

“I wait for your return in three months time.”

 

“Thank you, Jor-El.” Clark acknowledged before speeding home. It was time to explain what would be happening in a few months time to his parents.

 

~~~

 

“Where the hell have you been?” Jonathan demanded as Clark slipped into the kitchen well after night fall.

 

“Jonathan.” Martha chided, casting her husband a scolding look before motioning for Clark to sit across from them.

 

“I’m sorry.” Clark replied honestly. “I should have told you what was going on more after Lois and I got back but when I took the second stone to the caves it told me the location of the third, so I had to retrieve it.”

 

“You collected all the stones?” Jonathan frowned. “Clark—“

 

“Dad, it’s okay. I know why Jor-El wanted me to collect them.” Clark sighed. “They contain all knowledge from Krypton. They contain my heritage, Mom, Dad. They belong to me.”

 

“What happens now?” Martha asked.

 

“I made a compromise.”

 

“With Jor-El?” Jonathan scoffed.

 

“Yes. I did.” Clark confirmed, looking steadily at his adoptive father. “I managed to post-pone my training until after graduation, but by sunrise of the day after graduation, I need to go train.”

 

“And how long will this training take?” Jonathan asked, his fury growing. “How long is Jor-El going to take you from us?”

 

Clark gulped. “It could be years. But I need to do this, I need to learn where I’m from and what I can do. I’m getting more and more powerful everyday and Jor-El is the only one who can help me hone my abilities and reach my full potential. Lois pointed out that—“

 

“How much does Lois know, Clark?” Martha interrupted before Jonathan could, placing a calming hand on her husband to quell his rage.

 

“She doesn’t know about my abilities or where I’m from.” Clark rubbed the back of his neck. “After the whole witch possession thing, Lois could tell that something was bothering me, so I told her that these people were after these family heirlooms of my birth parents but I didn’t want to get them because the executors of the will were very difficult.”

 

“That’s one way to describe him.” Jonathan muttered.

 

“And does she believe that?” Martha queried.

 

Clark shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest. “I doubt it. She knows that there’s more to the story, but she doesn’t push me. And without her there with me in China, Isobel would’ve gotten hold of the second stone and then I wouldn’t have been able to find the third. I owe her a huge thank you, no matter how vague it is.”

 

“I know we’ve always taught you to be careful with your secret, Clark, especially after Pete, but have you considered telling Lois about you?”

 

“I have.” He replied. “I trust her, even more than I trust Chloe. I don’t know, she just… She gets me. But if I’m leaving in a few months… I don’t know.”

 

Martha smiled to herself as Clark bid them goodnight to go upstairs and get ready for bed. What Clark was too young and what Jonathan was too protective to realise, was something that Martha could see clearly. And Lois and Clark? Martha could see them very clearly. And she couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

 

~~~

 

Clark knocked softly on the door to his—well, theirs, really—room. “Lo?” He called. “Can I get some stuff for bed?” At her gentle affirmation, he entered the room, blushing slightly at her nighttime appearance, hair wet and skin flushed from her shower, in a tank top and a pair of rubber duck pyjama bottoms.

 

“Hey.” She greeted, running a comb through her hair. “How did it go with your parents?”

 

“What?” Clark asked, only for Lois to redirect her gaze towards him, eyes all-knowing. “Okay, it went fine. They’re happy that I collected all the heirlooms.”

 

“You got the final one?”

 

“Yeah.” Clark grinned at Lois’ enthusiastic tone. “That’s why I’ve gotten in so late.”

 

“That’s so great, Clark. Have you told the lawyers?”

 

He cursed inwardly, deciding to skirt around the issue. “Yeah, I’ve spoken to them and put them somewhere safe.” He paused from grabbing a change of clothes to sleep in, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “And I have you to thank.” His shoulder brushed against hers as he spoke, his intense gaze causing Lois to look towards her lap. “Thank you. If you hadn’t been there in China… I might not have been able to get a hold of it.”

 

She waved him off, shoving against his shoulder to put space between them. “It was nothing.”

 

“No, it wasn’t nothing.” Clark denied. “Thank you, so much. You’re incredible, Lo.” He grabbed her hands as she pulled away, pulling her close and tucking her into her chest. “I want to make it up to you.”

 

“Make it up to me?” She questioned, eyebrow raised.

 

“Yeah,” he grinned. “Make it up to you. What do you say if you and I go to the Monster Truck rally in Metropolis next weekend?” 

 

Lois squealed uncharacteristically, launched herself onto Clark. “Are you serious?”

 

“Very. I got tickets already.”

 

Clark fell back on the bed as Lois planted her lips on his, giving him a very thorough thank you. “Wow.” He blinked, looking up at her. “I guess that means that you’re excited?”

 

She nodded vigorously in response, giving him one last kiss before allowing him to get up. “You should probably get back downstairs before your dad comes barrelling into this room to protect your virtue.”

 

“Lois!”

 

“Clark!” Lois replied as Clark got up from the bed. “Night, Smallville.”

 

“Night, Lo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the long hiatus! And guess who's sick again, yay! It's more of a flu this time than a cold so hopefully it will be over soon. I already feel loads better than I did when I first came down with it. But, this is exactly what I need now that I'm starting to revise for exams. Because you know, final year that counts for 2.3 of my degree so I'm sick of course! Yay! On the bright side, I had a sports massage tomorrow that will hopefully sort out the back issues I've been having for weeks now that have been lingering, so fingers cross!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'll be updating again on Friday!


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hurricane Lucy comes to visit.

Clark bolted awake as he heard a loud bang followed by a string of curse words come from the kitchen. Rubbing his eyes blearily as he sat up, he padded into the kitchen and immediately wondered if he was still asleep. Lois was covered in flour, looking like she was attempting to make some sort of food. Clark glanced at the microwave clock, the blinking red lights telling him it was only five in the morning.

 

“Lois?” He questioned, moving forward and placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. The movement only served to startle her, sending the lumpy pancake batter in her hands flying and covering the kitchen window in the goop.

 

“Dammit!” Lois cursed, rushing to clean the dripping batter before it got anywhere else. “What, Clark?”

 

“What are you doing in the kitchen at five in the morning? And are you cooking?”

 

She scowled at him, tossing the now dirty rag into the sink. “Well, I’m trying to. Did I wake you?”

 

Clark shot her a disbelieving look. “Yeah.” He deadpanned. “The banging and cursing was just the perfect alarm clock.”

 

Lois blushed. “I’m sorry, I just really want to do something nice for your folks and I thought hey, why not cook breakfast and—“

 

“Lo, If you were any nicer, we’d starve.” He teased, grabbing onto her shoulders and making her look at him. “Now, you want to tell me what inspired this pre-dawn cooking lesson?”

 

“My sister Lucy called.”

 

“Lucy?” Clark quirked an eyebrow. “Isn’t she at boarding school in Switzerland?”

 

“Yeah. But apparently she got a break and she called me and she was already on the way to the airport to come and see me and obviously I’m living here and she hung up before I could say no and—“

 

“Whoa, Lois, calm down, okay?” Lois glared at him mutinously, but Clark cut her off before she could berate him. “If you think that making my parents breakfast will butter them up before you spring the Lucy bomb on them, then I’ll help you out. For the sake of our stomachs.” Her glare deepened. “And, you know, for you.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Really. Besides, what are boyfriends for?”

 

“Boyfriend?”

 

Clark flushed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well, yeah, I mean, you’re kinda my girlfriend, right?”

 

Lois grinned, going on her tip toes to brush a sweet kiss to his lips. “Yeah, Smallville, I’m your girlfriend.” Pulling back, she grimaced as she looked around the mess in the kitchen. They had a lot of work to do.

 

~~~  
  


“I hope you guys are hungry because there are plenty more where these came from!” Lois announced as she came into the dining room with a plate full of pancakes. She and Clark had managed to clean the kitchen and make breakfast before his parents woke up. Well, Lois cleaned the kitchen, Clark cooked. He managed to get the bacon perfect and the eggs edible, but neither of them were proficient at flipping pancakes.

 

“Lois, you really didn’t have to…” Jonathan spoke as he picked up a broken pancake.

 

“At least let me help.” Martha offered.

 

Lois quickly pushed Martha back down as Clark walked in with the eggs and bacon. “Don’t worry, Mom, I helped Lois out.”

 

Martha smiled at the bacon and eggs. “These turned out okay.”

 

“You should see the first few attempts.” Clark smirked, Lois elbowing him in his gut. He feigned injury as Lois smiled innocently towards his parents.

 

“I just want to thank you guys for letting me stay here. I mean, the commute from base is so long and Chloe and Uncle Gabe don’t have the room for a third person in that apartment.”

 

“Lois,” Martha comforted. “We enjoy having you here. You don’t need to do all this.”

 

“Lo,” Clark whispered, “maybe you should get to the reason for the breakfast?”

 

“Right! Um, look, Mr. and Mrs. Kent, I um, I know it’s a lot because you’ve been so good to me already so I hate asking for another favour but—“

 

She was interrupted by the door opening, a girl who was undeniably her sister stepping through. 

 

“Lo? Anybody home?” Lucy called, greeting Shelby as he pranced over to welcome the newcomer.

 

Lois grimaced as she quickly rushed forward to hug her sister before turning around to explain to the Kents. “Uh, this is my sister, Lucy. She was kinda hoping that she could stay here for a few days.”

 

“I know it’s last minute, but I had this school break. I’m willing to sleep in the barn!” Lucy offered.

 

“It’s okay,” Clark smirked. “Lois can sleep in the barn.”

 

Jonathan glared at his son. “Nobody is sleeping in the barn.”

 

“You can stay in Lois’ room.” Martha added.

 

“We’ll go get things set up.” Jonathan said, the elder Kents smiling welcomingly to Lucy before leaving the room.

 

“Sleep in the barn?” Lois questioned, swiftly punching Clark in the chest.

 

“What? I’m sure our prized bull would love to spend some more time with you.”

 

Lois growled at him, turning back around to face her sister. “You’re going to find that Clark’s charm is an acquired taste, much like his sense of fashion.”

 

Clark raised an eyebrow at Lois, fighting back several comments about how Lois had acquired that taste. “So,” he asked Lucy after she finished thanking him for letting her stay here. “Got any embarrassing stories about Lois?”

 

Roaring, Lois grabbed her laughing sister, pulling Lucy out of the room before she had a chance to respond. “Come on, I’ll show you around upstairs.”

 

“Good.” Lucy replied. “I can’t wait to wash off four time zones’ worth of airport connections.”

 

“Are you sure that everything’s okay, Lucy?”

 

“Now that I’m here with you?” Lucy asked, ignoring her older sister’s studious gaze. “It’s perfect.”

 

~~~

 

Lois was muttering as she entered the barn. Lucy had left no hot water after her shower, leaving Lois to a cold and quick one. Now she finally knew how had Clark felt since she had moved in. That didn’t mean that she was about to take shorter showers, but maybe a compromise could be reached. Showering together—no, Lois quickly shook the thought out of her head. They just started dating and they were living in his parents’ house. As nice as showering together would be, nope, no way.

 

All Lois wanted right now—besides to get thoughts of her and Clark together in the shower out of her head—was to find her sister and show her around town before she could cause any trouble. Scratch that, Lucy already was causing trouble. Lois growled as she saw Lucy blatantly flirting with Clark, dressed like some fantasy-version of a farm girl and petting his arm. Clark, to his credit, looked sufficiently put out, but didn’t know how precisely to deal with Lucy.

 

“Hey!” Lois called as she stomped up the steps. “Hands off my farm boy.” She stopped at Clark’s side, grasping his hand firmly in hers. Clark let out a sigh of relief at Lois presence, shuffling slightly away from Lucy.

 

“Your farm boy?” Lucy questioned, glancing down to look at their joined hands. “I thought getting a boyfriend would have warranted a call to your little sister, Lo.”

 

Lois’ eyes darkened. “Yeah, well, we aren’t exactly public yet. I mean I’m living with his parents…”

 

Lucy smirked as her sister trailed off. “Say no more. Though, have to say, kind of a shame. We could’ve had fun, Clark.”

 

“Lucy,” Lois ordered, “go down to the car. I’m going to show you around town.”

 

Lucy winked at Clark before making her way out of the barn, Clark rushing to explain to Lois. “She just—“

 

“Don’t worry, Clark, I know my own sister.”

 

“Are you happy to see Lucy?” He asked, noting the venom in her voice.

 

“Look, here’s the thing with sisters. You can love them without really liking them.”

 

“You don’t like Lucy?” He asked, thinking about how when Lois rarely did talk about her family, she spent most of it bragging about Lucy’s accomplishments.

 

“More like she’s not very crazy about me, not that I blame her.” She sighed, moving to sit down on the couch. “When my mom died, my dad had two girls he didn’t know what to do with. So he instituted a chain of command, like every good military leader. I reported to him and—“

 

“Lucy reported to you.” Clark grimaced, the picture forming in his head.

 

“It took sibling rivalry to a whole new level. I had to make sure she got three square meals, got to school, did her homework…”

 

“You became her mother.” He frowned, wondering what type of father would put a six year old in charge of her four year old sister. “Is that why she decided to go to boarding school?”

 

Lois laughed humourlessly. “Unlike your family, there was no discussion. When the General gives an order, you’re expected to carry it out. Trust me, she got the good end of the deal.”

 

“Come on,” Clark tugged at her hand, knowing that Lois didn’t want to dwell on the subject any further. “Let’s show Lucy around. Maybe you can make up for lost time.”

 

“Yeah, maybe.”

 

~~~

 

Lois was angry. She was really, really angry. And bitter. Clark had suggested that they make up for lost time. So she had tried. She showed her around town, stopped at the Talon, took Lucy to Lex’s so they could be classical music geeks together. And when Clark caught her sneaking out to steal money from the Talon, Lois dragged Chloe into the situation and eventually Lex, believing in her little sister that it was a loan shark and doing everything in her power as big sister to find out about the mess Lucy had gotten herself into. And where did that get her? In the back of a semi truck.

 

She was trying really hard to be the bigger person here. Lois had swallowed her pride when Lucy had slung their mother into the conversation, ignoring her need to lash back even as the pain was portrayed plainly on her face, so obvious that Clark had reached out to grab her hand and Lex had cast her a sympathetic glance. But it was the final straw that broke the camel’s back, when Lucy’s duplicity came to show.

 

“Lucy?” Lois questioned, barely containing her rage. “How does he know that you don’t like tomatoes?”

 

“I swear, Lois, it wasn’t supposed to end this way.” 

 

“End this way!” Lois fumed. “I knew as soon as Clark caught you stealing that this trip across the Atlantic wasn’t just because you missed your big sister, but I didn’t think that you got involved with a criminal and were a part of his gang!” She stood up, beginning to pace in the narrow space. “When Michael Hoover was throwing dirt clods at you, who kicked his butt, huh? Who was the one who let you sleep in her bed and listened to you snore every night after Mom died?”

 

“Lois, I’m sorry.” Lucy cried.

 

“Sorry’s not good enough! I want to know why. Why you turned to a life of crime when you have everything in the world going for you. You’re as close to perfect as it fucking gets! You know I’m repeating my senior year of high school because I dropped everything to run after you the last time you fucked up? And now you brought the trouble to me.”

 

“I didn’t want to go to boarding school!” Lucy sobbed. “I just went along and played the part because that’s what the General wanted. I just wanted to go home.”

 

“Lucy, you got to stay in one place. I had to get dragged around like a spare piece of luggage.” 

 

“At least you got Dad.”

 

Lois sighed, sitting back down. “Luce, I don’t think either of us ever had Dad.”

 

Clark sped along the highway as he searched desperately for the semi truck that had Lois and Lucy. After Lex told him that Becker had them, Clark had felt terror like never before grip him. Becker had Lois, his Lois. He stopped at the overpass, waiting as the truck passed underneath it. Reassured by the steady beat of Lois’ heart, Clark waited for the truck to pass before speeding to the edge of the overpass and jumping off, landing on the roof of the truck.

 

Landing safely, he ran to the front of the truck and jumped onto the roof of the cab. Becker quickly began to shoot up at him, but Clark easily dodged the bullets. He climbed down the cab door, punching through the window and knocking Becker unconscious. Jumping into the cab to gain control of the steering, Clark stopped the truck. He breathed a quick sigh of relief, but upon hearing Lex approach, he swiftly left, returning with the truck.

 

“How are you feeling?” Lex asked Lois as he helped her and Lucy out of the back of the truck.

 

“I have a newfound appreciation for seat belts, I can tell you that.” She paused. “I guess you’re going to have to notify the authorities?”

 

“I’m sorry, Lois.”

 

Clark skidded the truck to a stop as he arrived once again at the scene. “Lois!” He called out, drawing the attention towards him. Disregarding Lex’s curious face, Clark marched forward and wrapped Lois in his arms. “Are you okay?” He questioned, eyes searching hers.

 

“I’m okay, Clark.” She comforted, placing her hands on his arms. “I’m okay.”

 

Heaving in relief, Clark swept downwards and kissed her, needing to feel that connection with her to know that she was truly okay. Lois melted into the kiss, surprising even herself when her foot popped up as she leaned further into Clark’s embrace.

 

Their kiss was broken by the sound of an engine roaring. “Lucy!” Lois yelled.

 

“You’re going to be okay, Sis!” Lucy replied before speeding out of sight.

 

“I’m sorry, Lex.” Lois reddened, embarrassed for who her sister had become.

 

“It’s okay, Lois. We still have Becker in custody.” He glanced between the still embracing couple, Clark’s arm wrapped securely around her waist. “You two are dating?”

 

Clark coughed as Lois blushed. Clark had acted out of relief from the anxiety that had coursed through him since he found out that Lois had gotten captured. But now, they had to face the music.

 

~~~

 

“So,” Chloe approached Clark at his locker the next day. “You and Lois?” She quirked an eyebrow.

 

“I see Lex spreads news fast.” 

 

“Yeah, well, what can I say, good gossip spreads fast in a small town. Why did you guys not tell anyone?”

 

Clark slammed his locker shut. “We wanted it to be just us for a while. Look, have you been able to talk to Lois? She’s holed herself up in her room since Lucy left.”

 

“Ah, hurricane Lucy. And no. But something tells me that if you go and talk to her, she’ll let you in.” Chloe gave him an awkward one-armed hug before leaving. “Take care of my cousin, Clark.”

 

After an awkward conversation with his parents about his new relationship status with Lois and a stern warning to keep doors open at all times from his father, Clark was relieved to escape to the barn. He paused at the sight of Lois in his loft, looking out at the stars with his telescope.

 

“I thought you said that telescopes were for geeks and stalkers.” He cracked as way of announcing his presence.

 

“Yeah, well,” Lois sighed, “as was proven over the last few days, I can seriously misjudge people. Look, if you’ve come to kick me off the farm, I completely understand.”

 

“I’m actually here to tell you that we have food in the oven if you’re hungry and that there’s now a strict doors open rule.”

 

She smiled weakly at that. “How’d your parents take our relationship?”

 

“My mom was excited to be right about us.” He rolled his eyes.

 

“And your dad is afraid for your virtue?”

 

Clark smirked. “Don’t worry, I think my mom can temper him.” He paused, wondering how to approach the situation. “How are you holding up?”

 

“I just got off the phone with the General.”

 

“Oh, that was all the screaming I heard from the house.”

 

“Yeah.” Lois winced. “Apparently, he is very disappointed in me for letting this happen, and as far as the family chain of command goes, I am the weakest link.”

 

“I’m sorry.” He stated, pulling her into his side and comfortingly rubbing her arm.

 

“Don’t be.” She brushed it off, relaxing into his embrace. “You know, there’s something cathartic about telling a three-star general to go to hell.” Lois turned away as she felt tears prick at her eyes, Clark pulling her even closer as he detected the change in her breathing. “You know, all these years, I thought I had my sister pegged. But, uh, it turns out she’s a complete stranger to me.”

 

“Even if that were true, I think if she called you tomorrow, you’d be there in a second to help her.” Clark said, thinking about how Lois had confessed that she didn’t finish high school because she had been chasing after her sister at the General’s order.

 

“Yeah, I would. She’s my sister.”

 

“Besides, I don’t think Lucy’s all that bad.”

 

“You’re amazing, Smallville.” Lois commented, scrutinising him. “You always look for the best in people, even when they walk all over you.”

 

He smirked. “I guess that explains why we’re dating.”

 

“Shut up, you’d be lost without me.”

 

Clark relaxed into the couch as they stayed there, Lois getting her emotions back in control as they enjoyed the silence of the night. “Yeah,” he said softly, “yeah I would be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the relationship is officially public! It was kinda hard to condense this chapter into one chapter length but hopefully I did it justice. Starting with the next couple of chapters the end of this story snowballs pretty quickly so I'll try to keep consistent with updates, but I have exams coming up and obviously those take priority.


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Senior prom is a night to remember.

Chloe scowled as she walked into the Torch office, still in disbelief about being nominated for Prom Queen. She had written the article as a boycott to the archaic ritual, she didn’t expect to get nominated because of it!

 

“Now, should I bow to you when I see you or…” Clark teased.

 

“You know, I always did say that you had the perfect shaped head for a tiara.” Lois spoke.

 

Chloe glared at her cousin and best friend, who were sat together on the couch at the back of the Torch. “Cute, guys, very cute. What about boycotting the vote didn’t anyone understand?”

 

“Oh, they understand it perfectly, Chlo. See, you are the boycott.” Lois grinned. “In high school, everyone is trying to break out of the stereotype they’ve found themselves in, especially in a town this small. You’re the battlecry.”

 

“Great.” Chloe rolled her eyes. “The great prom coup. You two didn’t have anything do to with this, did you?”

 

Clark grinned. “I may have spoken to a few people.”

 

Chloe growled, throwing a pencil at Clark. “At least tell me that you two won’t let me storm the Bastille alone.”

 

“Well…” Clark shrugged. “We weren’t planning on going.”

 

“Aw, come on, you two! You at least can go as a date! I’m going stag!”

 

“Sorry, Chlo.” Lois apologised. “People have been far too into Clark’s and mine’s love life since our relationship came out. And I, for one, have already been to a prom. After getting escorted via tanks, I vowed not to go to another unless there was a promise of spiked punch.”

 

Chloe turned her attention to Clark. “Come on, Clark. You were the quarterback that led the team to state. You have to go to prom. It’s practically law.”

 

“Well, Chloe, consider me not going my own personal boycott of the vote.” Clark grinned as his friend’s frustration grew. “Besides, we’ve already made plans.”

 

“Fine.” Chloe looked at her friends, who were clearly taking refuge from being the topic of the town’s newest gossip. “Then you two aren’t allowed to hide in the Torch all day.”

 

Lois and Clark grimaced as Chloe kicked them out of the Torch. Clark grabbed onto her hand quickly so that she couldn’t run away. They’d deal with people together. After all, news that Clark Kent had finally moved on from Lana Lang to a rough and tumble army brat had to die down eventually, right?

 

Clark faked a smile as some of his football teammates patted him on the back, while Lois did her best to ignore the glares that certain members of the student body were giving her. “Hey, Smallville?”Lois asked.

 

“What?”

 

“How do you feel about playing hooky?”

 

“You read my mind, Lane.”

 

~~~

 

“Mom?” Clark exclaimed as he walked into the kitchen after putting the cows away. His mom was dancing around the kitchen to loud pop music and singing into a spoon as she ate ice cream out of a carton. “Mom!” He yelled again, getting her attention over the music, Martha turning it off. “What’s going on?” He asked.

 

Martha laughed. “Hi, Son.”

 

He watched carefully as she continued to eat ice cream. “What’s for dinner?”

 

She tilted her head. “Dinner? Oh, right!” Martha glanced down at the ice cream before shoving it into Clark’s face. “Here, start with this. It’s really yummy.”

 

“Are you feeling okay?”

 

“I’m great!” She exclaimed. “I was wanting to ask you…” Martha paused, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Do you have a date for prom yet?”

 

“Mom, I told you that I’m not going to prom.” Clark frowned. They had definitely already had this discussion.

 

“What! You have to go.”

 

“Well, I mean, if I did, I’d go with Lois.” Clark shrugged. “But she went to prom at her old school and doesn’t really want to go again. Plus, now that we’ve gone public with our relationship… I don’t know, we kinda want some alone time.”

 

“Ugh, what do you see in her! Clark, you need to go to prom. It’s the most memorable night of your life.” Martha shook her head. “I’m not going to let you miss it. You can take me.”

 

“Mom, what are you talking about? You love Lois. Besides, you already are going, remember? With Dad? You two are chaperones.”

 

“Oh! Right, cool.”

 

Lois sneezed as she walked down the stairs, Shelby following her. “I swear, this dog knows I’m allergic.”

 

Clark smiled sympathetically. “This is just him paying you back for how you found him.”

 

Scowling, Lois turned to Martha. “Mrs. Kent, you can please remind your son that Shelby was completely fine after I hit him?”

 

Instead of what Lois expected, a warm smile and a gentle voice, Martha practically snarled at Lois. “So this is your little secret. You’re taking her to prom, aren’t you?”

 

“Mom!” Clark exclaimed. “We’ve already been over this!”

 

“Mrs. Kent, a lot of things are possible in this world, but they’ll be a man on mars before I go to prom.” Lois added.

 

“So what, you two just get together and mack on the down low?”

 

“Mom!” Clark yelled, blushing.

 

“I don’t mean to be rude, Mrs. Kent.” Lois spoke. “But, uh, did you crack open the cooking sherry?”

 

“Of course not!” Martha denied. “I’m just super pumped about prom!”

 

Lois and Clark exchanged a worried look as Martha made to leave. “Mom, maybe I should take you to the Talon tonight.” He offered.

 

“The Talon? Oh, right. I work there. No, I can drive myself. Laters!”

 

“Laters?” Lois repeated.

 

Jonathan wandered into the farm house and looked at where Lois and Clark stood, confused. “Have you guys seen Martha? She just drove out of here like a bat out of hell.”

 

“Yeah, she was acting really weird.” Clark confirmed. “She tried to give me ice cream for dinner.”

 

“Maybe we should follow her to the Talon, make sure that she gets there okay.”

 

Lois and Clark were out the door before Jonathan could blink. He sighed looking at the kitchen. “You two do that. I’ll try to do dinner.” He picked up the ice cream that Martha had left on the counter and sighed again. “No promises though.”

 

They quickly entered the Talon and began looking around for Martha when Lana approached them. Lois frowned as Lana bounced up, hands tucked behind her back as she smiled up at Clark.

 

“Lana, have you seen my mom?” Clark asked, still scanning the room.

 

“Forget about your mom, Clark.” Lana paused, tucking her hair behind her ear and looking at Clark flirtatiously through her eyelashes. “I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

 

Lois’ glare deepened, Clark awkwardly shuffling away from the fast-approaching Lana. “Uh, yeah, sure. What is it?”

 

“Well,” Lana giggled. “I know that it’s kinda of last minute, but I thought that it would be totally amazing if we went to prom together.”

 

“Lana—“ Clark started, eyes widening at her proposition.

 

“I know that I’m with Jason, but it’s you I want to go with. Don’t you want to go with me?”

 

“Lana, I’m dating Lois.” He spoke firmly, noticing the barely contained rage filling his girlfriend’s eyes. “And if I went to prom with anyone, it’d be her.”

 

“But, Clark—” Lana spoke softly, resting her hand on his arm.

 

Lois growled, reaching forward and twisting Lana’s hand so that she pried it off of Clark’s arm, wrenching it towards her body. “Okay, Pink Princess, I don’t know what’s gotten into you recently, but you need to get a healthy reality check here because Smallville here? He’s taken?”

 

Lana yelped as Lois increased the pressure. “Ow, Lois!”

 

“Back off, Pinky.” She growled, pushing the smaller girl towards the door. Once Lana was safely out of sight, Lois turned to look at Clark. “What is it with girls in this town not understanding that you’re mine?”

 

“Well, Lois,” Clark smirked. “It’s a good thing that I have you here to defend me.” He grabbed her hand, interlacing their fingers. “Come on, let’s go find my mom.”

 

~~~

 

“You guys look great!” Clark smiled as his parents walked down the stairs, his father in a suit and his mother in a gold dress.

 

“Clark, the only reason we agree to be chaperones was because of you.”

 

He winced as he heard the censure in her voice. “I know it’s a little backwards, my parents going to prom and I’m staying home to wait up for them.”

 

“Son, when you’re older, we don’t want you to have to look back on high school and regret not going to prom.” Jonathan spoke, fixing his tie.

 

Clark shrugged. “Lois doesn’t want to go and I don’t want to go without her. Besides, I’m not sure that standing by the punch bowl and watching bad dancing is a memory I’m going to cherish.”

 

“Well,” Martha said. “If you chance your mind, I put your tux by the door.”

 

“You rented me a tux?”

 

“Just in case.”

 

Clark watched as his parents went out to the car, Jonathan opening the door for Martha before going to the driver’s side. He grinned. Lois may give him shit about his chivalrous tendencies, but it was clearly a habit that he had picked up from his father.

 

“Well?”

 

He turned over his shoulder at Lois’ voice. She had been acting odd all afternoon, but he presumed that she had either spoken to her father, which never failed to set her off, or was preparing for their planned _Die Hard_ marathon. His eyes widened as he took in her appearance. He had expected her in one of his shirts and her favourite pair of sweats. Instead, she was in a strapless pink dress that hugged her figure, her hair swept into an up-do.

 

She smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear. “How do I look?”

 

He blinked. “Uh, looks like you’re going to prom.”

 

“I am.” Lois confirmed, moving down the stairs. “And you’re taking me! I’m not going to let you sit around moping all night while your parents go out and do the electric boogalooo all night. It’s gonna be fun.”

 

“Lois, wasn’t it going to take someone spiking the punch for you to go to prom?”

 

“Massive re-strategy. We’re going to prom whether you like it or not. End of discussion.”

 

“Really?” He quirked an eyebrow. “What happened to the original plan of pizza and a _Die Hard_ marathon?” Clark stepped closer, towering over her. His gaze dropped to his lips. “My parents are out for the night… We won’t have to worry about getting interrupted…”

 

Lois recoiled slightly and Clark frowned. Normally, she was the one propositioning him for some time alone. “Well, we’re going to prom. Come on.”

 

~~~

 

Chloe took a deep breath as she entered the gym. She could do this. Unlike her friends, she wasn’t about to miss out on her senior prom. She tilted her head as her eyes landed on Clark, surprised to see him standing by the punch bowl, tugging uncomfortably at the collar of this tux. “Hey,” she greeted. “Haven’t I seen you here before?”

 

Clark smiled. “Well, maybe this time we won’t have any natural disasters.”

 

“I’m surprised you’re here. All Lois could go on about earlier today was your guys’ movie night.”

 

“Well, remember all those regrets we were talking about? I think not seeing you with a crown on your head would be at the top of the list.” He paused. “And actually, Lois—“

 

“Clark!” Lois yelled, rushing over to him. “Clark! It’s called an escort for a reason.” She chastised, stealing his punch.

 

“Lois.” Chloe’s eyebrows raised. “You’re here. In pink. Why?”

 

“I came to uh, cheer you on, of course!”

 

Any further interrogation from Chloe was interrupted by a teacher moving to announce who’d be prom king and queen.

 

“Okay, if by some weird reason I win, the tiara burning party is at my house.” Chloe spoke frankly before Lois urged her forward. Clark’s concern deepened as he watched Lois make her way enthusiastically through the crowd. Something weird was going on here.

 

“This year’s Smallville High Prom Queen is Chloe Sullivan!”

 

“Congratulations!” Lois yelled, throwing her arms around Chloe.

 

Chloe pranced up to the stage and Lois looked at herself in confusion as Chloe eagerly accepted the crown and flowers, beginning her speech.

 

“Okay, what the hell am I doing in a dress and what are we doing at prom? I thought I was introducing you to _Die Hard_ tonight and we were going to make-out on the couch.”

 

“Oh, no.” Clark gulped. Dawn had possessed Lois, and now she was in Chloe’s body.

 

Lois tugged at the top of her dress, noticing her corsage. “Did you pin that on me?”

 

“I’ll explain later.”

 

“A little close to the boob, don’t you think?”

 

Clark glared at Lois. “Well, there wasn’t a lot of dress to pin it to.” Lois blushed. “Besides, I think we have a bigger problem here.”

 

Lois followed his gaze, watching as her cousin began to go on and on about how Dawn deserved to be prom queen. “Okay, Smallville. I clicked my heels together three times and nothing happened. What’s going on?”

 

“You know how you’re always telling me that this town is weird?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“What if I told you that the spirit of Dawn Stiles was inhabiting you and that when you hugged your cousin she transferred to her?”

 

~~~

 

Clark sighed with relief as he walked back up the stairs from the basement, safely depositing Chloe’s stash of meteor rock back in the Torch while his father got her some ice for her head. She had went down pretty hard when Dawn, in Clark’s body, had pushed her and it had taken several minutes for her to regain consciousness. But she was okay now and Dawn had been taken care of.

 

“Chloe okay?” Lois asked as soon as she spotted Clark enter the gym.

 

“Yeah.” Clark rubbed the back of my neck. “She fell in the boiler room and was unconscious for a bit, but my dad’s with her now and got her ice for her head, so she’ll be fine.”

 

They stood awkwardly next to the punch bowl, watching what Clark had known would be awkward dancing. “You know,” he spoke up. “Even thought I know that you were possessed, thanks for dragging me here.”

 

She smiled, grabbing his hand. “Yeah, well, I’m glad I came too. This has been definitely way more exciting than my first one.” She grimaced, looking down at her dress. “Though, jeesh, couldn’t have Dawn picked something a little less pink and rhine-stone-y?”

 

“I think you look nice.”

 

Lois rolled her eyes. “Of course you think I look nice, I’m your girlfriend.”

 

Clark laughed, wrapping his arm around her waist. “And what would my girlfriend think if I asked her to dance?”

 

“Well, she might just say yes.”

 

Lois let herself be led onto the dance floor by Clark, flushing slightly at the feeling on his warm hands on her waist. She clasped her hands behind his neck, pulling herself in closer to him as they swayed to the music. Lois sighed, letting her eyes close as she rested her cheek against his chest. He was always so warm and steady, a constant in her otherwise tumultuous life.

 

Clark beamed as he looked down at her. He looked around to see his parents now dancing as well off to the side and couldn’t help but hope that one day, he’d be in that same position with Lois. Turning his attention back to the girl in his arms, he pressed a whisper light kiss to the top of her head. She looked up at the gesture, looking at him inquisitively.

 

He stooped slightly so that his mouth was next to her ear. “I think I love you, Lois Lane.”

 

Her grin was so wide it nearly split her face in half, causing an identical grin to appear on his. “I think I love you too, Clark Kent.”

 

Lois moved up on her tip toes to kiss him and Clark pressed his arm more firmly against her waist, supporting her against his chest as he bent his head down to meet her lips. Their mouths met firmly again and again, lost in the moment as the band continued playing and they continued swaying. Eventually, Lois pulled away, flushed, and rested her head back on his shoulder as they continued to dance to the music.

 

Martha smiled from her vantage point in the corner of the room. She had known from the moment she had met Lois, that she would turn her son’s life upside down. After seeing the pair interact, Martha knew that they had met their respective matches and that from then on, any other prospective partner would pale in comparison. Martha knew that the road ahead would not be easy. Clark had made the promise to his birth father to commence his training after graduation, a separation he would eventually have to explain to the young woman currently in his arms.

 

But, Martha looked towards her husband and thought about her own rocky path towards happily ever after. Call it mother’s intuition, call it chicken salad, but somehow, Martha just knew that eventually, one day, everything would be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, hope you enjoyed the update! I have a friend coming into town on Wednesday so I likely won't be able to update until after he leaves but I promise to update when I can! I have so much revision and work to be doing before exam term and then with exam term so I will be a very busy and then it's a whirl wind of travelling, sending off transcripts and graduation (eep!). So much crazy. It's killing my drive to write non-academic things a bit because my brain is dead and uncreative, but I promise that I haven't died and there's still several story ideas about Lois and Clark that I want to do so I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, even if I get a bit MIA in the next few months.


	18. Chapter Eighteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A thief with memory powers makes life interesting and Clark has to deal with the fallout.

Lois bustled about the farm as she completed Martha’s farm chores for the weekend while Martha and Jonathan were in Metropolis for Jonathan’s heart exam. While Lois accepted that most of the farm chores were beyond her and wisely decided after a few token protests and struggles to leave them to Clark, she could take over Martha’s small vegetable garden. She may not be able to cook worth a damn, but Lois could weed and water plants with the best of them.

 

She dusted the dirt off her hands as she stood up, wincing in the bright Kansas sun. Spring had finally melted away the last of the winter snowpack, and in return, today was the first sweltering day of the year. Lois smiled as she remembered her conversation with the Kents before they left for Metropolis, both parents warning the teenagers sternly that they trusted them to behave, even though they were now dating. She walked into the kitchen through the service door, eyes widening as she walked in to find Clark with the front door in his hand, his eyes equally as bewildered as hers.

 

“What the hell!”

 

“I—“ Clark stuttered, unsure himself what just happened.

 

“The hinges must have been loose.” Chloe offered, giving Clark a helpless shrugged when he looked just as confused as Lois.

 

“Okay…” Lois replied, moving to get a glass of water.

 

“Look, Lois, do you know where Mr. and Mrs. Kent are?”

 

Lois frowned, looking at Clark. “They’re in Metropolis for Mr. Kent’s heart exam. You know that, Smallville.”

 

“Uh, not really.” Chloe explained. “There was a thief with memory-repo at the Talon and well, Clark here has amnesia.”

 

“Again?”

 

Now it was Clark’s turn to frown. “What do you mean again?”

 

Lois smirked, eyeing him up and down. “Well, at least this time you’ve got clothes on.”

 

Chloe’s brow furrowed as Clark looked to her for an explanation. “Okay, somehow I missed out on that story.”

 

Clark tuned the girls out as they discussed the impossibility of getting the Kents home. He looked around the kitchen, slightly surprised to find a picture of him and Lois on the fridge, next to a picture with him and who he presumed were his parents. Chloe had told him that they were dating, but as they had been closed-lipped about their relationship, Chloe had had little information to give him. But apparently, he and Lois were very close and very happy, as least judging by their beaming faces as they sat on a couch together, Clark’s arm slung around her and Lois’ head resting against his shoulder.

 

He turned his attention back to the cousins, watching as Lois began to prepare a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, bending over in the fridge to get the jelly. Clark blinked furiously, wondering what the hell was happening. He felt as if he was literally on fire.

 

“You just leave Mr. Memory Reboot to me.” Lois told Chloe. “I’m getting to be a pro at this amnesia thing. Besides, we’ll have fun together, won’t we, Clark?” She winked at him.

 

Clark’s grip on the table tightened, loosening as he remembered what had happened with the door. He vaguely remembered saying goodbye to Chloe as she went to go research at something called the Torch. He watched as Lois babbled on about nothing, licking peanut butter off of the knife. The burning in Clark’s eyes intensified and all of a sudden the towel next to the stove exploded in flames.

 

“What the hell!” Lois screamed, jumping back from the flaming towel.

 

He reacted before he could properly think, grabbing the towel and tossing it into the sink, quickly turning on the faucet.

 

“Clark!” She gasped as she grabbed his hand, inspecting it carefully for any burns. “You don’t… You don’t have any burns on you.”

 

Clark stuttered as he tried to think of an explanation. He had assumed, apparently wrongfully, that Lois knew about him because they were dating. “I… I think it was me. I don’t know what’s going on.”

 

“What do you mean?” She asked. Lois realised that this was the thing that Clark kept so close to his chest, the secret that made conversations stop when she entered the room. Clark was different. Her first instinct was that he was a meteor freak, but his hesitance towards his birth parents made her think that perhaps this was something that he got from them. Pushing her curiosity to the side, Lois led him outside. “Come on, you’re, uh, premature combustion, shall we say, is less likely to damage anything out here.”

 

He blushed furiously as he let her grab him by the hand and led him into the barn towards the couch from the photograph. “So,” Lois spoke. “Want to tell me what’s been going on since you lost your memory?”

 

“I… I ripped the door off the hinges and then the uh… premature combustion. That’s been it so far.”

 

“Okay. Okay, we can test this. Where’s the crowbar?”

 

Clark looked around the barn and quickly located it. He moved over to the crowbar, shocked to find that one moment he was next to Lois and the next, he was finding the crowbar from under a few cloths. He turned to go back to Lois, ending up appearing next to her in the same way.

 

Lois looked at him with wide eyes. “Okay, so super speed, that’s another one.” Clark looked at the crowbar and thinking about the door, plied it in his hands. His mouth fell open as he watched the metal bend at his will. Clearly, the door wasn’t a freak incident. “Super strength, too.” Lois added. “And the list keeps on growing.”

 

“And uh, I can see through things.” He explained. “That’s how I knew where the crowbar was. One minute I was looking at the work bench and the next… God I’m a freak!”

 

“Hey!” She protested empathically. “You are not a freak. You are the most caring, thoughtful, wonderful person I know and you are not a freak. Sure you clearly have your secrets, but you must’ve learned to control your… abilities and we can learn how to do that again.”

 

He looked at his girlfriend in amazement. She was clearly still reeling from everything that had been revealed in the past hour, but she was pushing aside her own shock because he was not only dealing with having no memory of his life, but also dealing with finding out that he had powers.

 

“God, no wonder I love you.” He reddened at her reaction to his statement. “We have… We have said that already, haven’t we? Because if we haven’t we can just sweep it under the rug and chalk it up to my amnesia…”

 

“No, no.” She shook her head. “We have, uh, just last weekend in fact at prom. We were dancing and… Are you remembering?”

 

He shook his head. “No, I just… Well, I look at you and I just know, you know?”

 

“Yeah.” She smiled, her brilliant grin making his heart jump. “I do. Now come on, let’s go get those abilities under control.”

 

~~~

 

Lois smiled as she talked on the phone with Chloe, watching as Clark practiced his heat vision out on their dinner. After his premature combustion, that was the one skill that Lois definitely needed him to regain control of, and definitely the one that was taking the longest. A proud smile broke out onto his face as he perfectly baked a potato to go with their grilled chicken and she laughed at how much he reminded her of a toddler who just got told that he did something right, the innocence in his smile something Lois had rarely seen in non-amnesiac Clark.

 

“Lois?” Chloe spoke down the phone, regaining her cousin’s attention.

 

“Right, sorry, Chlo, Clark’s just making dinner and I got distracted.”

 

“And you trust amnesia boy with dinner?”

 

Lois could practically hear her cousin’s raised eyebrow. “Chloe, memories or no memories, Clark is still safer in the kitchen than I am.”

 

Chloe chuckled. “Well, that is true. Anyway, as I was saying, I found some clues today about the thief with memory-repo and I think his name is Kevin Grady. His dad works at Summerholt and it looks like Kevin underwent some treatment there after an accident in Audrey Clearing where Kevin accidentally killed his own brother when loading his gun.”

 

“But you don’t think that’s what happened?”

 

“No,” Chloe replied. “I did some digging and paid a friendly visit to Lex and I think that not only did the treatment at Summerholt give him his ability, but—“

 

“That maybe Kevin didn’t actually kill his brother.” Lois completed, frowning. “Maybe his Dad did.”

 

“I’m going to the institute tomorrow to try and find some evidence.”

 

“Be careful, Chlo.”

 

“I will, Lois. Anyway, I’ll call you when I know more.”

 

Lois sighed as she hung up the phone, joining Clark at the set dining room table. The lights were dimmed in the room, two candles lit on the table. Their dinner was perfectly prepared via heat-vision, and she suspected that he had used his super-speed to set the dining room while she was on the phone to Chloe. He had even taken care to put on one of her CDs, the one she had labelled ‘date night’. Lois smirked, he’d be in for a surprise at some of the later music, but for now, she would let herself be serenaded by Whitesnake.

 

“Smallville, you didn’t have to do all this.” She gushed as he pulled out her chair for her before going to his seat.

 

“Yes, I did.” He spoke. “You’ve been so great today with, um, my secret being revealed and everything, and well, I don’t know if I’ll ever get my memories back or if I’ll remember today when I do, but… You’ve been great. Most people would have freaked or gotten mad or something and you just, you took it in stride.”

 

“Well, freaking out wasn’t exactly going to help anything.”

 

Clark smirked. “You know what I mean.” He reached across the table to grab her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Just let me thank you.”

 

Lois blushed, removing her hand from his and busying herself with eating. “Come on, let’s test how that heat vision of yours cooks.”

 

~~~

 

Clark sped into the Torch office the next day at Lois’ request, skidding to a stop in front of the desk she was sat at.

 

“Got a hang of that yet, Speedy Gonzalez?”

 

Clark smiled ruefully. “Almost. So, what did Chloe send you?” Lois pulled up the video on the computer, playing Kevin’s treatment scene. Clark frowned at the video, an involuntary shiver travelling down his spine. “Kevin didn’t kill his brother.”

 

“Whoever erased Kevin’s memories must’ve planted some new ones.” Lois completed.

 

“How could someone do that? Let Kevin walk around thinking he killed his own brother?”

 

“Someone who obviously can’t live with themselves.”

 

~~~

 

Lois was furious as she pounded on the receptionist’s desk. Clark was hopefully off somewhere with Kevin getting his memory back and Chloe was here, somewhere in this god damn institution. And Lois didn’t trust Summerholt, not after learning what they did to their patients, treating them more like lab rats than people, toys for their experiments with little regard for ethics.

 

“Look!” She exclaimed. “This guy’s kid robbed me, then plucked the last forget-me-not petal from my boyfriend’s brain. You will let me back there and you can do it with or without handcuffs.”

 

“Like I said, if you would sign in, I’ll let someone know that you’re here.”

 

Lois growled. She wanted nothing more than to strangle the receptionist and her perfectly coifed hair. “What part of this isn’t getting through to you? The last time I spoke to my cousin, she was here. And I’m sure that psycho is holding her back there somewhere.”

 

Sheriff Adams stepped forward, placing herself between Lois and the receptionist. “Maybe they pay you enough to be rude, but I doubt they pay you enough to do time in the county jail.”

 

Lois smiled smugly before the receptionist led them into the building and Lois and the sheriff immediately took off in the direction of Dr. Grady’s lab. Lois sprinted ahead of Sheriff Adams, eager to get to her cousin. There had been a lump in her gut ever since Chloe had failed to call Lois back and with Clark off who knows where, Lois knew that she needed to rescue Chloe herself. Undoubtably, Clark’s abilities would be useful right about now, but Lois just had to hope that she had arrived in enough time to keep that psycho from doing anything to her cousin.

 

They burst into the room as Clark leaned over Chloe, a green light hitting the back of his head. Lois watched in sheer terror as the light bounced off of Clark’s back and hit the steel pillars to the side. In almost slow motion, the two pillars fell towards him and Clark caught them out of reflex.

 

“Dear God in Heaven.” Sheriff Adams gasped.

 

Her words made Clark look up and pushing away the pillars, he acknowledged the newcomers to the room. Swallowing hard, he spoke. “Lois, Sheriff.”

 

Lois’s eyes widen as she realised that whatever the light beam did; It clearly gave Clark his memory back. “Those pillars must be lighter than they look.” She explained nervously, watching the disbelieving looks her cousin and the Sheriff gave her.

 

Clark’s brow furrowed in confusion as he watched Lois try to cover for him. What had happened in the last two days? Kevin caught Clark’s eyes, nodding towards the others in the room. Clark nodded his consent, watching as Kevin raised his hand first towards Chloe, then towards the Sheriff. “Wait!” He exclaimed. “Not Lois!”

 

Kevin shrugged, but carried out Clark’s wishes before nodding goodbye and leaving the room.

 

“Clark!” Lois spoke, taking advantage of the sheriff’s and Chloe’s wiped memories. “Are you just going to stand there all day, or are you going to untie her?”

 

Clark look nervously at Lois as Chloe tied up lose ends on the chase with the sheriff. She clearly knew about him now, and even if she didn’t before, she knew now that he refused to have Kevin wipe her memory of him catching the pillars. But someone must have stayed with him when he had no memory and that was clearly Lois. Who knows what had happened during that time? Her comforting look and hand in his did little qualm his nerves as Chloe bounded back over to them, ready to get to the Torch and write an exposé on Dr. Grady and Summerholt.

 

He and Lois needed to talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last update before I go pick my friend up from the airport! I should be able to update Monday, sorry about the bit of the cliff hanger!
> 
> Let me know what you think!


	19. Chapter Nineteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark tells Lois the truth about himself.

Lois found Clark at the barn window, staring out at the stars. It was where she found him a lot recently. He had always had his brooding tendencies, but with the exception of tonight, it had felt less and less like brooding. He seemed almost pensive as he stared out at the stars, and Lois wondered what he was thinking about and why he was so drawn to the night sky. He knew almost every constellation; He had pointed them out to Lois one night after prom. They had laid in the bed of his truck after a date, her head resting on his chest and she had been comforted by the rumbling in his chest as he spoke.

 

“Hey.” She announced her presence softly, lingering by the stairs as she waited for him to acknowledge her. Lois knew that Clark probably had spotty—if any—memory of the past forty-eight hours, but he had trusted her enough to let her keep her memory of him catching the pillars while he had allowed Kevin to erase Chloe’s and Sheriff Adam’s memory of the situation.

 

He smiled weakly at her. “Hey.” He turned and leaned against the window sill as she sat on the couch, watching her intently. “So I don’t have much memory of this weekend…” He started. “But I know myself. And I know that you looked out for me. It couldn’t have been easy. Thank you.”

 

“No problem, Smallville. It’s like I said. One save at a time.”

 

“What, what exactly happened?” He asked, gulping nervously.

 

Lois gulped. “Well, Chloe is the one that brought you back to the house. You ripped the locked front door off its hinges.” Clark’s eyes widened. “I convinced Chloe to leave you with me while she investigated, and uh, I learned about your premature combustion problem.”

 

Clark closed his eyes. Great. “Yeah, uh, I call it my heat vision. It’s kinda linked to, you know…”

 

“Sex?” Lois raised a wry brow. 

 

“Yeah.” He admitted, blushing profusely. “What else happened?”

 

“I took you out to the barn and well, everything else kinda popped up in rapid succession. I thought we could test out your strength with the crowbar, you know, see if you could bend it. One second you were next to me and the next you had retrieved the crowbar. And then you revealed that you had been able to see it under the things covering it.” Lois shrugged. “And then I helped you experiment with getting it all under control. You even cooked our dinner using your heat vision.”

 

He nearly sighed in relief at the way she was handling this. Never had he thought that anyone would handle learning about his abilities so well. “Thank you; For being so accepting.”

 

“I love you, Clark.” She answered. “I’ve known you had a secret for a while—conversations do tend to stop when I enter the room. But, you know, people have a right to secrets. If you wanted to tell me, you would.”

 

“It’s not that I don’t trust you.” He hurried to explain. “It’s just not something I tell people. I told my friend Pete, I kinda had to, and well, he couldn’t handle it and ended up moving away.”

 

“You don’t have to tell me more if you don’t want to.”

 

He shook his head. “No, no I want to. I want you to know. I… Lana always got on me about my secrets and I dated Alicia because she was different like me, and I’ve let my differences control my life. But I love you and my secret, my abilities, I want to share them with you. I need to share them with you.” He paused, knowing that now would also be a good time to mention that he’s leaving at the end of the year for an unknown amount of time. “My life has, well, it’s gotten more complicated recently. And believe me, that’s saying something.”

 

Lois’ brow furrowed. “Does this have anything to do with the stones and why you’ve been spending so much time brooding up here?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Well, lay it on me, farm boy.”

 

“To start, I’m not a meteor freak. It’s related to the meteors, but I’m not who I am because of them. They’re here because of me. Well, sort of.”

 

“Clark, what do you mean?”

 

He gulped. “Lo, in the meteor shower, the meteor rocks weren’t the only thing that came down. A space ship did.” Her eyes widened as she caught onto what he was saying. She had deduced that it had been something to do with his birth family, but she had never thought it was, well, this. “My Mom and Dad found me in a cornfield and took me in and raised me.”

 

“Wait, you have a space ship? Can I see it?”

 

“Lois,” Clark chuckled. “I just told you that I’m an alien and your first question is if you can see my space ship?”

 

“Well, I’ve never seen one before! You know that I believe in life on other planets, you practically interrogated me on it—wait. Why did you ask me all those questions at the drive-in?”

 

“I wanted to see what you thought, you know, in case I ever told you.” He blushed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “I was considering it, you know?”

 

She smiled. “And how were my answers?”

 

“Comforting.” He returned her smile, sitting down next to her on the couch. “And no, you can’t see my space ship. I kinda, well, I kinda blew it up.”

 

“Why?”

 

“I found out that I wasn’t from Earth when I was fourteen and well, I didn’t handle it well. And when I went to the ship, I ended up activating this A.I. of my birth father and it kept going on and on about this destiny. But I was a kid, you know? I didn’t want to hear that I was destined to rule this planet, I just wanted to survive high school. So, I destroyed it using a replica of the key made out of meteor rock. Of course, destroying the ship didn’t get rid of Jor-El, my birth father, and now he just speaks to me through the caves.”

 

Lois placed a comforting hand on his forearm, sensing that there was more to the story, but knowing not to push him. “The caves?”

 

“Yeah, they tell this prophecy of a man who fell from the sky in a rain of fire and, well, it’s about me. There’s a secret compartment in the caves and it’s how I talk to Jor-El and… It’s where I’ve stored the stones.”

 

“Clark, what exactly are the stones?”

 

“They’re… They contain knowledge from Krypton and the known galaxies.”

 

“Whoa.” Her eyes widened. “That’s a lot of knowledge in three small stones.” At Clark’s reluctance to exaggerate, Lois changed the subject. “So what else can you do besides what I saw?”

 

“You know that I have super-speed and super-strength. I’ve had those the longest. I’ve never tested them, but I’ve gotten stronger and faster as I’ve gotten older. Most of my abilities started developing in high school. I’m invulnerable, I have heat vision, x-ray vision and incredibly enhanced hearing.” He cringed at his laundry list of abilities. “I’ve flown once but uh, I wasn’t really under my own control and I’m kinda, well, I’m afraid of heights.”

 

Lois bit back a laugh. “Clark, didn’t you just tell me that you’re invulnerable?”

 

He growled. “Phobias are irrational, Lois. Mine was just a bit more irrational than most.”

 

“So why did you get sent to Earth?”

 

“I don’t really know all the details, but Krypton was about to explode and to save me, my birth parents sent me to Earth. The meteor rocks are the remains of my home planet and just about the only thing that can hurt me besides magic. The green can kill me and well, the red, you saw what red kryptonite does to me.”

 

“So as a general rule of thumb, you should probably avoid all glowing rocks, right?”

 

He nodded. “Thank you, for being so… understanding.”

 

“Clark,” her voice was serious as she looked him in the eyes. “I’m not going to lie and say it’s not a shock that you’re an…”

 

“Alien?”

 

“But, I’ve had forty-eight hours to get used to you having abilities and I doubted that you were a meteor freak. I thought it had something to do with your birth family, I just didn’t know what. And, from the planet Krypton or not, you’re still one of the most caring people I know, and learning about where you’re from and your gifts, it doesn’t change how I feel about you.” She smiled, pressing on intuitively. “And I’d love to hear all about you growing up and how your abilities developed, and most importantly, why you were stark naked and in the middle of a cornfield when I met you, but I have a feeling that there’s something more, isn’t there?”

 

Clark stiffened and stood up, moving to grip onto the edge of the window. Lois joined him, leaning her head on his shoulder as he remained silent, gathering his words. “Do you see the wolf?” She nodded against his chest. “It’s missing one eye. That eye, is roughly where Krypton was. Lois, for the longest time, I hated my heritage. I hated that I’m different, I hated that I had a ghost of my father telling me what to do and demanding that I accept my destiny. I just wanted to be normal.”

 

“Normal’s over-rated.”

 

He smiled down at her. “I know. Being friends with you, dating you, you’ve really helped me realise that. Not just that being normal is over-rated but showing me that my birth parents, they didn’t want to give me up, but they didn’t have a choice. And that you know, Jor-El must have really loved me to sacrifice his life for mine, even if his A.I. doesn’t exactly portray that. Jor-El told me that I had to collect the stones of knowledge because they’d be dangerous in the hands of anyone else. So I collected them and when I got the final stone, I asked him what they did.”

 

Lois tensed, an all too familiar feeling creeping up her spine. “And what do they do?”

 

He turned and grabbed her hands in his. “They created a crystal and using the crystal, I can create a replica of my home planet. It’s where I’ll have to complete my training. He wanted me to start now, but I remembered what you said about listening and compromise and I got him to agree to wait until after graduation.”

 

“How long?” Her voice cracked. “How long will this training last?”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

Lois tried to yank her hands from his. “Clark, let me go.”

 

“No.”

 

“Clark,” she demanded, voice trembling. “Let me go.”

 

“I can’t do that, Lois. I’m not finished.”

 

“What else is there to say!” She screamed. “You’re leaving after graduation for who knows how long to do your training and you’ll leave me behind after making me fall for you! After making me love you! And you’re leaving! I can’t be left behind one more time, Clark, my dad always did that! I won’t be left behind one more time!” Her voice cracked as the tears began to flow, sadness overtaking her anger. “And to top it all off, this is all because I inadvertently helped you accept your birth parents and who you are!”

 

Tears were streaming down her face as she pounded her fists fruitlessly against his chest. Clark remained there calmly, letting her take her frustration out against him without removing his grip from her. He knew that the moment he let go, she’d run away and he needed her to hear him out, needed her to forgive him. Even if she no longer loved him, he needed her in his life. He couldn’t imagine his life without her in it in some way.

 

“I hate you!” She punched his chest. “I hate you, I hate you so much! I trusted you, I accepted you, I loved you and you’re leaving!”

 

Clark wrapped his arms around her, drawing her into her chest and whispering in her ear as her shouting turning into incoherent sobs. Eventually, her sobs quieted against his chest, his shirt stained with her tears. “I’m sorry, Lo. I’m so, so sorry. I love you so much. You’re the only person who’s ever made me feel normal and I’m so, so sorry. But I have to do this. The only way that I’ll discover and control all of my abilities and learn about where I’m from is if I do this. I have to do this. I can’t just keep running. Like it or not, I’m not just Clark Kent from Smallville. I’m also Kal-El of Krypton.”

 

She sniffled, letting him rock her back and forth. She hated herself for it, but she still felt the safest when she was in his arms. She hated it, but she loved him. God, she loved him and it was going to hurt when he left, but she loved him and there was no changing that now. “I know, Clark, I know. God, don’t you think it kills me that I know you’re doing the right thing and that if I wasn’t dating you, I’d probably be telling you to do this? It’s just, it hurts. To know that you’ll be leaving and to not know for how long…

 

“And I feel so selfish for wanting you to stay because I know that you can’t and you could do such good in this world and be so incredible and I can’t keep you from reaching your potential just because I’ll miss you.”

 

“I wish I could stay, Lo. I want nothing more. I just found you and it kills me because I never thought I’d find someone who loves all of me and still calls me ‘Smallville’. But,” he swallowed hard, knowing the next words would likely be the death of their relationship. “Since China and telling my parents that I was going to go do my training, I realised that my life, I’m always going to have a higher calling.”

 

“Kinda like being in the army.” She compared. “My dad, he always had this calling, this duty to do more. I hated it when I was a kid because after my mom died, he wasn’t really good at balancing duty and family. But I understand it. I hate it, but I understand, Clark.”

 

“I understand if you want to break up now.”

 

“No.” She shook her head. “I don’t know how long you’ll be gone for and I want whatever time with you that I can get.”

 

“Can I just, can you promise me something?” At her silence, he continued. “When I leave, I don’t want you waiting around for me.”

 

“Clark—“

 

As she started shaking her head no, he cut her off. “No, Lois, listen. I… I don’t know how long I’ll be gone. It could be months, but it also could be years. And you talk about my potential, but you have so much yourself and I don’t want you to miss out on your life because you’re waiting for me. Reach your potential, go make sure the dean knows your name at Met U, and…” He felt his heart physically twisting as he formed the words. “There’s plenty of other fish in the sea.”

 

Tears brimmed in her eyes once again. “But I can’t imagine that there’s another fish out there for me.”

 

“Please,” he begged, “please promise me that you’ll try. I couldn’t live with myself if I kept you from living your life, Lois.”

 

“Fine.” She relented. “But for now, just let me enjoy my time with this fish.”

 

He chuckled at her mangled metaphor. Pulling her closer to him and allowing himself to breathe in her scent, capturing how she smelled faintly like peppermint and orange and the feel of her against him. He didn’t want this moment to pass, wanted to freeze time so that he never had to leave her. But he knew that he had to, had broken the news to her and now it was real.

 

He just wished that it wasn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not going to lie, I had tears in my eyes the first time I wrote this. I tried really hard to get to right mix of acceptance and then anger/sadness and then Clark being Clark so hopefully I captured the characters right!
> 
> Let me know what you think!


	20. Chapter Twenty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois and Clark find a baby in Evan's Field

Lois and Clark were driving home from a date when it happened. A bright light exploded out of a field and into the lane, Lois slamming on the brakes as the light spilled over them.

 

“Are you alright?” Clark asked, looking over her quickly to ensure that she was fine.

 

“Yeah.” Lois replied absent-mindedly. “What the hell was that?”

 

He shook his head. “I don’t know. I think it came from Evan’s field.”

 

They quickly unbuckled and ran to the field, staring in shock as they found a large crater, smoke billowing out of it. The pair froze as they heard a baby’s cry from the centre of the wreckage.

 

“Oh, my god.” Lois whispered, whipping her jacket off and running into the crater.

 

“Lois! Wait!” Clark yelled, running up behind her.

 

She gently cradled the baby in her jacket, looking at Clark with wide eyes as the baby stopped crying. Clark gulped, moving to stand next to Lois and look down at the tiny baby that they found in the middle of the cradle. 

 

“Come on, we should get him to the hospital.”

 

Clark and Jonathan were talking to the sheriff while Lois and Martha remained with the baby, who was being checked over.

 

Sheriff Adams was in disbelief. “Last time I checked, babies don’t just fall out of the sky, Mr. Kent.”

 

“There was a 30-foot crater, Sheriff. How else would you explain it?” Clark replied, disgruntled. This was Smallville, of all places. The unbelievable happened every day.

 

“Well I can’t.” She admitted. “That’s why we’re conducting a little something called an investigation.”

 

“What’s going to happen to the baby now, Sheriff?” Jonathan asked.

 

“Well, he’ll be placed with child services until we find a home.” She paused. “You did good for a change, Mr. Kent. The little critter wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for you.”

 

Clark watched her as she walked away. “Dad, I don’t think this baby’s parents are from around here.”

 

Jonathan’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean? You think the baby’s…”

 

“We found him in a crater, Dad. Just like you and mom found me.”

 

“Yeah, but when we found you, we also found a spaceship. Truth is, Clark, we don’t know what happened out in that field.”

 

Clark sighed as they made there way towards the room where the baby was, Lois helplessly rocking him back and forth as Martha watched on.

 

“Come on, Squirt, please.” Lois begged, sighing. “I’ve tried everything, but he won’t stop crying.The doctor’s gave him the all-clear but…”

 

“Do you think it might have to do with how we found him?” Clark asked.

 

“Believe it or not, all this crying is a good sign.” Martha refuted.

 

Lois sighed again. “I’m going to talk to the nurses, see if we can get Squirt some formula. Here, Smallville, you take over.”

 

“Me?” Clark asked nervously as Lois placed the baby in his arms. “Lois, I don’t really—“

 

The baby stopped crying immediately as Clark cradled him against his chest. “Wow.” Lois commented. “Looks like someone has the magic touch.” She smiled at him, squeezing his shoulder before turning to leave. “I’ll be right back.”

 

“When’s child services coming to take him?”

 

“They’re not.” Martha shook her head. “They don’t have the room for him yet, so he’s going to have to stay in the hospital until they do.”

 

“He can’t stay in the hospital. I mean…” Clark looked up at his parents. “Maybe he can come stay with us?” He watched as his parents exchanged glances. “I mean, just until they find room for him?”

 

~~~

 

“You know,” Chloe spoke as she sat with Lois in the Torch. “I found an arrowhead in Evans field once, but not a baby.”

 

“It’s really weird. But what’s even weirder is the way Clark is with him.”

 

Chloe chuckled. “Let me guess, he’s completely baby-phobic.”

 

Lois shook her head. “Actually, exactly the opposite. I mean, I raised Lucy and was the go-to babysitter on base in spite of not really liking children, but at least I’ve been around them before. Clark’s never been around kids, but you should see him with the baby. It’s like he’s completely at ease. Not to mention, he’s a natural-born baby burper.”

 

Chloe frowned as her cousin stared off into space, about to interrogate her further when Clark entered the school newspaper.

 

He grinned tiredly. “And I’ve got the spit-up stains to prove it. Sorry I’m late, I was up all night with Squirt. He was a crying machine.”

 

“Smallville, I did offer to take turns with you.”

 

“I know, Lo, but you need your sleep more than I do. But if you want to, we can take turns tonight.”

 

Chloe watched them exchange a secret glance, Clark wrapping his arms around Lois’ waist. It was definitely weird watching her cousin act so… Domestic. “Okay, before you guys start picking out schools for the little tyke, you might want to hear this.”

 

Lois and Clark listened as Chloe pulled up the 911 call from the night they found the baby. The distress of the woman and the fear in the man indicated that the mother was most likely dead, but the father could still be alive. 

 

“Chloe, can you see if you can find out who the man in the recording was?” Clark asked. “Lois and I have to pick up some more formula before we get back to the farm.”

 

Chloe smiled tensely as she agreed and went to work, watching as Lois and Clark left the Torch office, Clark’s hand in the back pocket of Lois’ jeans and Lois’ arm slung around his waist. She swore up and down that she’s happy for them, but that didn’t mean she liked seeing them acting practically like a married couple. However, they were together and didn’t look like they were going to break up anytime soon, so sighing, she turned back to her computer. This was where she was needed.

 

~~~

 

“What’s the matter, Squirt?” Clark cooed as he tried to feed the baby a bottle. He held the bottle up in front of his eyes, heating it gently with his heat vision before lowering the bottle back down to the baby. “Here, try this.”

 

Lois chuckled as the baby started drinking from the abnormally heated bottle. “You know, I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to seeing you heat things with your eyes.”

 

Clark grinned at her. “I don’t even think anymore around you, I just act.” Ever since Lois and Clark had had the conversation about his powers, things had been better than ever between them, the two enjoying the newfound honesty and depth of their relationship. If it wasn’t for Clark’s pending departure, Lois would say that everything was perfect.

 

“Is that a good thing?” She questioned, taking the bottle from him and handing him the rag so he could burp the baby.

 

“It’s a very good thing.”

 

Martha smiled at the scene from the top of the stairs. She and Jonathan had both been worried when Clark had told them that he had told Lois the truth about him, but they had understood why he had felt the need. And it looked like Lois was handling the revelation just fine. “Are you sure that you two will be fine? I can always get one of the girls to cover for me.”

 

“We’ll be fine, Mom.”

 

“Okay, well, your dad is out in the barn and if you need me, just give me a call, okay.”

 

“Will do, Mrs. Kent.” Lois took the baby from Clark, laying him down on the table to change his diaper. “You know, we should probably give this little guy a name. They’re going to make fun of him when he gets to high school if we keep calling him Squirt.”

 

“Well, we found him in Evan’s field. What about Evan?”

 

Lois smiled as the baby gurgled, picking him up and cradling him in her arms. “I think he likes it.” Clark stepped up behind her as she continued talking to the baby, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Hello, Evan. This is Clark and I’m Lois and we think you’re the most beautiful baby ever.”

 

“Well, I don’t know about that.” Clark said as he took Evan from Lois and laid him down in his cradle. “I can think of a baby who would be more beautiful.”

 

“Oh really?” She raised a brow. “Who?”

 

“Well, any child of ours would be pretty damn beautiful.”

 

“Clark…” Lois stepped back. “You’re leaving and we’re so young.”

 

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry. I know. Just seeing you with Evan and, God, I don’t even know if I can have children with a human, but how we found him reminds me of how my parents found me and I just—“

 

Lois eyes widened as she looked beyond Clark to find a familiar bright light. “Clark!” She yelled, breaking him out of his rambling. “Clark, what’s happening?”

 

He pulled her behind him as the light grew brighter, Jonathan running into the house. The light faded and they looked at Evan before them. He was no longer a newborn baby, but a young boy. 

 

Lois and Clark exchanged a terrified look as Jonathan looked on. “My God.”

 

~~~

 

The next day, Lois walked up the steps to the loft as Clark talked to his parents about what was happening with Evan. She smiled as she saw him reading on the couch. From what Martha had told her about Clark’s childhood, a boy reading alone on this couch used to be a very common thing.

 

“You know, _The Velveteen Rabbit_ used to be my favourite book. Clark’s too.” She sat down next to him. “You know how to read?”

 

Evan nodded vigorously. “I’ve read all of Clark’s books, but this is my favourite. I also like the encyclopaedia.”

 

“The encyclopaedia?” Lois bit her tongue, reigning in her sarcasm. “That’s a pretty long book.”

 

“I know. I stopped on ‘W,’ windmills. Did you know that they were invented in Persia?” He frowned at Lois’ face. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

 

“You’re a very, very special boy, Evan.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Really.” Lois confirmed. “And you’re really lucky, because there are so many more books for you to read and places for you to see.”

 

“Like what?”

 

Lois smiled, thinking about when Clark had taken her to Chandler’s field to show her where he grew up. “Like a real windmill. And when you stand up on top of it, it’s like the whole world stretches out in front of you.”

 

“Can we go?” Evan jumped up, heading for the stairs. “Right now?”

 

“Where are you going?” Clark asked as he walked up the stairs, Evan jumping into his arms.

 

“Dad!” Evan exclaimed. “Mom’s taking me to see a real windmill!”

 

Clark’s eyes widened as he carried Evan back to the couch, sitting next to an equally startled Lois. He sat Evan down in front of them, looking in his eyes. “Um, Evan, listen. We’re not your real parents.”

 

Evan frowned. “Everyone’s supposed to have a mother and a father, and they’re supposed to love each other very much just like you and Lois.”

 

“Evan,” Lois started, exchanging a glance with Clark. “Clark and I care about you a lot. That’s what matters.”

 

“If you’re not my mom and dad, then where are they?”

 

“We don’t know. But wherever they are, I’m sure they love you very much.” Lois replied.

 

“You want to go for a ride in the truck?” Clark spoke, hoping to break the somber mood, if only momentarily.

 

“Are we going to the windmill?” Evan asked, perking up.

 

“We will. But first, I want to take you to meet a friend of mine.”

 

~~~

 

Lois paced back and forth in the Luthorcorp facility as Clark stood stoically in the middle of the room.

 

“Lo,” Clark grabbed her shoulders, pulling her into his chest. “We’re doing the right thing. We have to be. We can’t do anything for him and Lex has all these scientists…”

 

“I know, Clark, it’s just, he looks so scared.”

 

“Let’s just hope that it’s over soon. Lex has his top scientists working on this.”

 

“And they’ve already come up with some intriguing findings.” Lex announced as he came into the room.

 

“Lex, is he going to be alright?” Lois questioned.

 

“Tell us what’s happening.” Clark demanded, his jaw tightening as his hands rested on Lois’ shoulders.

 

“The results are only preliminary, but the data indicates that Evan’s body is storing energy like a battery for charging.”

 

Lois’ brow furrowed. “Charging for what?”

 

“The theory we’re working on is that once enough energy is stored, it’s expended to fuel a burst of rapid cell division.”

 

“Hence his rapid ageing.” Clark completed. “Is there any way to stop it?”

 

“We think a bone marrow transplant might work, but we’d need an exact match from a biological parent.”

 

“We think he mother died when he was born. What’s going to happen to Evan if we can’t find his father?” Lois asked, concerned.

 

Before Lex could answer, the lights in the lab started flickering. A huge blast erupted from the lab, breaking the glass window and sending one of the scientists flying towards the wall.

 

“Evan!” Lois screamed, her and Clark immediately stepping forwards. “Evan.” Lois breathed at seeing him unharmed, but now several years older.

 

“What’s wrong with me?” He asked, body trembling.

 

“Unbelievable. Prep the level 3 facility. I want him transferred immediately.” Lex spoke to one of the scientists.

 

“No.” Clark stood firmly as Lois wrapped Evan in her arms, staring down any of Lex’s men that came close. “You’re not taking him anywhere.”

 

“Clark, we need to isolate him while we run more tests. So far our evidence is suggesting that the next time Evan ages, it will create enough energy to kill him and those around him.”

 

“No.” Clark refused. “We’re going to find his biological father. But for now, we’re taking him home. He’s just a boy.”

 

“Clark,” Lex spoke in his practiced bored tone. “He’s a walking time bomb.”

 

“Not if I have anything to say about it.”

 

~~~

 

Lois sat nervously by the phone as Clark and Jonathan were out looking for Evan. After he had overhead Clark talking about how his biological father was unwilling to help, Evan had run out of the house, distraught. While Lois didn’t exactly like staying at home and not helping to search for Evan, she understood that someone needed to stay home in case Evan returned.

 

The phone rang, Jonathan calling to check in. “He hasn’t come back, Mr. Kent.” Lois sighed. “Let me know if you find him.”

 

Lois hung up the phone and turned around, gasping as she found Evan behind her. “Evan, I’ve been worried sick about you! We’ve been looking for you all night.” She calmed herself as Evan looked at the ground, not responding. Yelling at him wasn’t going to get them anywhere, she knew at least that much from her childhood. “Are you okay?”

 

“I don’t know.” He mumbled. “I did something bad.”

 

“Evan, tell me what happened.”

 

“It was an accident, a mistake.”

 

“We all make mistakes. It’s a part of what makes us human. What happened?” Evan doubled over in pain instead of responding, Lois rushing forward to support him. “Are you all right?”

 

“It’s happening again. I can feel it.”

 

“Okay, okay. I’ll just, I’ll call Clark and we can get you help.” Lois picked up the phone, cursing when she only got a dial tone. “Shit. There has to be something that we can do.”

 

“There is.” Evan pleaded. “The windmill you told me about, remember? Where the whole world stretches out around you. I’d like to see it just once. Please, Lois, hurry.”

 

Evan stared out in awe at the Kansas farmland in front of him. Lois sat next to him on the windmill, checking her phone every so often to see if she had service to call Clark. Evan seemed to be at peace, but Lois remembered what Lex had said about the next time Evan aged and Clark was the only person who’d be able to maintain that blast.

 

“You were right.” Evan spoke reverently. “The whole world is right there. It’s beautiful.”

 

“Well, I’m glad you finally got a chance to see it.”

 

Evan moaned in pain as a bright light started to shine from him, the windmill platform shaking. Clark appeared at the bottom of the ladder and quickly climbed up to the platform, putting Lois behind him.

 

“Lois, you have to go.” He ordered.

 

“Clark…”

 

“Lois, now. There’s no time.”

 

Lois climbed shakily down the ladder as Clark laid Evan down on the platform. “It’s okay, I’m here.”

 

“I’m glad it was you and Lois that found me.”

 

“I think you found us.”

 

Evan screamed as the shaking intensified. “What’s happening? I can feel it. You better go.”

 

Clark shook his head. “No, Evan, I’m not leaving you.”

 

“I wish you had been my father, Clark.”

 

The bright light finally exploded as Evan aged one more time. Clark quickly covered Evan’s body with his own to contain the blast, the windmill crumbling to the ground around him. Lois ducked behind her car for shelter as the windmill collapsed. She finally looked up when the light ended, breathing a sigh of relief as she saw Clark walk out of the smoke.

 

“Clark!” She yelled, throwing herself at him and wrapping her arms around his neck. “Are you okay?”

 

“I’m fine.” He choked. “But Evan…”

 

“It’s okay, Clark, it’s okay.” She held him close, letting him cry into her shoulder. “Even you can’t save everyone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I call this: the episode that was shit that is now hopefully better!
> 
> Honestly, I don't know if I'm totally satisfied with this chapter, but eh, has to be better than the original, right?
> 
> My exams start Monday and I've turned in my research project and holy shit this is so real.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois and Clark have a weekend alone at the farm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: this is why the story has an 'M' rating

Clark brushed his hands on his jeans as he finished with the chores for the day. He had urged his parents to go away for the weekend for their anniversary, and he was thankful that they took the time. They had both been hesitant for many reasons, the most prominent one being that Clark would be leaving soon, and they didn’t know when they would see him again. But, Clark had reminded them that when he left, there wouldn’t be someone who could look after the farm for free while they were gone. In the end, it took a bit of persuasion from Martha, whom Clark had explained that he wanted time with Lois to work out all the kinks about his leaving so that they could part on good terms, for Jonathan to take Martha away for the weekend.

 

“All done there, farm boy?” Lois asked, sneaking up behind him in the fading light of the barn and wrapping her arms around his waist.

 

He turned around so that he could wrap his arms around her in return. “Yeah, I’m done.” He smiled. “I just have to close the barn up and then I’ll be in.”

 

“Well, don’t take too long. I’ve already ordered the pizza for our movie night and it should be here soon.”

 

Her smile faded as she turned to walk back into the house. Lois knew as well as Clark did that this weekend would probably me the last bit of quality time that they truly had together before he had to leave. She refused to be selfish and monopolise his time, not when his parents needed to spend time with him as well. So she’d take this weekend as a chance to say and do everything that she had been holding back on, scared that if they moved too quickly, their relationship would fall apart. With Clark’s departure looming closer and closer, time wasn’t a luxury that they had, and Lois didn’t want their relationship to end with any regrets; She couldn’t let her hang-ups interfere with her love for him.

 

Soon the pizza had arrived and been eaten and Lois and Clark were sat curled up on the couch, the menu scene of the movie that had been watching playing in a loop. They both stared into space, Clark’s fingers absently tracing her arm as Lois burrowed closer into him.

 

“Does it scare you?” She finally asked, her voice timid.

 

Clark shrugged. “Kinda. But I know that this is something that I need to do and I can’t help but feel that the longer I put it off, the worse it’s going to be when I finally go.”

 

“I’m going to miss you so much.”

 

Her voice cracked slightly and Clark pulled her closer, grabbing her chin to look her in the eyes. “I’m going to miss you too, you know. I… God, as much as I hate leaving my parents to run the farm alone, I think it’s going to be leaving you that’s the hardest. But I have to do this. I have to. And I hope it’s over sooner rather than later, but I can’t ask you to put your life on hold for me and it just sucks. I never thought that I’d find someone like you and be in love like this and now that I am, I don’t want to let it go.”

 

“I didn’t plan on falling in love when I got stuck in this cow town. I never… I never thought that I’d let myself be vulnerable with someone like I am with you.”

 

“I don’t think you can ever plan love. You can try but… Love is either there or it isn’t and it happens on its own schedule, whether or not it’s convenient timing.”

 

“I know that now.” She closed her eyes, refusing to let the tears spill. This was their night together and she wasn’t going to let the pain she was feeling ruin it. He was in pain too and she wanted to give him one perfect memory to get him through his training; She wanted to end their relationship on a high note. “I want to do something tonight.” At his curious look, she continued. “I know that you’ve never done it before but I-I want to. With you that is, if you’re ready. I want to give myself to you completely.”

 

“Lo…” Clark breathed as understanding washed over him. “I want to but…”

 

“Clark, if you’re not ready, that’s fine.”

 

He shook his head. “No, that’s not it. I just… Lois, I’m so strong and my heat vision and I just… What if I can’t control my abilities in the heat of the moment? I couldn’t live with myself if I hurt you.”

 

“You’d never hurt me.” She insisted. “And I was there when you lost your memory and saw how easily you regained control of your abilities. I don’t think you give yourself enough credit.”

 

He felt his resolve wavering at the insistent look in her eyes. “If we do, can you promise me that if I hurt you at all we stop right away?”

 

“We can stop anytime you feel overwhelmed. I promise.”

 

Lois led him upstairs to the bedroom, where she had carefully lit several candles and placed them around the room. Clark raised an eyebrow and she shrugged, blushing.

 

“I was hoping that I could persuade you.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his head down with one hand so that her lips could meet his. His body with stiff as they stood in the middle of the bedroom. “Relax, Smallville.” She whispered, her lips brushing against his.

 

Her lips pushed against his, urging him to respond as he always did, with barely contained hunger. Lois knew he wanted her as much as she wanted him, had felt the evidence of it during some of their make-out sessions. Now it was just a manner of showing Clark that he could handle it.

 

Slowly, Clark returned the kiss, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist and pulling her flush against him. He nibbled on her bottom lip, causing Lois to gasp. Taking the opportunity, he slipped his tongue into her mouth, relishing in the familiar taste. She removed her hands from his neck, pushing up at the bottom of his t-shirt and running her hands over his torso.

 

Eventually, her wandering hands forced Clark to take a step back, Lois pulling his shirt off. He gulped as her hands then went to her own shirt, swiftly taking it off and putting it in a pile with his. Lois grabbed his hands, leading him forward to the bed and pushing him down to sit on it. She straddled him, Clark’s eyes immediately zeroing in on her breasts. She chuckled. From Krypton or from Earth, all men were the same.

 

Grinding against him, Lois felt as Clark began to loosen, large hands spanning her lower back as he kissed across her collarbone, sucking in the spots he had learned were sensitive long ago. She gasped, pulling at his hair as he bit down on a particularly tender spot.

 

“Clark.” She moaned. Lois wanted more, she needed more.

 

He took the hint, Clark turning them over so that her back was on the bed. Looking to her for confirmation, he slowly pulled her jeans down, Lois shimmying to aid him. He tossed the jeans to the side before pressing hesitant kisses down her body, unsure of what to do. Growing slightly impatient, Lois took her bra off for him, smiling as his eyes widened. 

 

His hands grasped her breasts, massaging them and playing with the nipples. One hand slipped down to her panties, feeling the wetness of them. Tentatively, Clark pressed down lightly in circles, gauging his actions based on the subtle changes in her breathing.

 

“Take your pants off.” She ordered.

 

Clark was quick to oblige, almost ripping his jeans in an attempt to get them off. He closed his eyes at Lois rose to her knees and palmed him through his boxers. He was so hard, so, so hard. Clark had dreamed about this—not that’d he ever admit it voluntarily—and he wanted this so much. But for so many reasons, he hadn’t wanted to ask, hadn’t wanted to make a move. And after all, he was just happy to spend time with her. But then she tugged his lips back down to hers and slipped her hand into his boxers and Clark couldn’t remember any of the reasons why he had never made a move.

 

“Lo.” He groaned, falling back towards the bed, catching himself above her on his forearms. “God, Lois, you’re killing me.”

 

She smirked. “Well, we can’t have that.” Lois tugged his boxers off, Clark kicking them off when they got to his feet. He gulped at being fully exposed in front of her. “Relax, Smallville, nothing that I haven’t seen before. Or do you not remember how we met?”

 

Any retort Clark had died in his throat as she grabbed his cock, stroking him gently and pressing her thumb against the head. His hand went to explore her similarly, slipping beneath her panties and finding her clit. Her moans encouraging him, he slipped one finger inside of her, watching as her eyes closed in pleasure. Lois hastily pulled off her panties, kicking them off to give Clark further access.

 

His breath caught in his throat as he continued thrusting his finger inside of her, adding a second one. “God, Lois, you’re beautiful.”

 

Words were beyond Lois as his fingers brushed against that spot inside of her. “Clark!”

 

He pulled his fingers out of her, licking her juices off of him. They didn’t taste bad, just different. His breathing became heavy as she pulled him up my his hair, giving him a sloppy kiss. They kissed each other messily, panting as they undulated against the other.

 

“Clark, I need you.”

 

“I don’t have a condom, I didn’t think that—“

 

“I’m on the pill. It’s okay.”

 

Nodding nervously, Clark used one hand to line himself up with her before pushing in slowly. His eyes closed at the feeling, head falling back as he thrusted all the way in. He stilled, not trusting himself to move with all of the sensations bombarding him.

 

“God, Clark, you feel so good.”

 

Taking in a shaky breath, he slowly started moving, going out more and more each time. He groaned at the friction his movements created, circling his hips against hers as he bottomed-out during each thrust. Lois moaned as the pace of his thrusts increased, the power of his movements causing the bed to rock. Her legs wrapped around him on their own accord as her hands clawed at his back, desperate to get him somehow closer to her.

 

He started thrusting faster, eyes closing as he felt his orgasm building. Clark didn’t want it to be over, but he knew that it couldn’t last longer, not when it felt so damn good. She fit him like a velvet glove, tugging at his cock and clenching it with every wave of pleasure. “Oh, god, Lois, I can’t.”

 

“It’s okay, Clark.” She reassured. “I’m close too.”

 

Her hand slipped down between them and Clark came with a loud groan, his thrusts becoming shaky and urgent and he poured himself inside of her, body going rigid. Lois soon followed, back arching and legs tightening around his waist as she screamed, muscles clenching tighter around him as waves of pleasure spread throughout her body.

 

Clark collapsed, rolling to the side to avoid hurting her. “I love you.” He said breathlessly, pulling her close.

 

“I love you, too.”

 

He pulled the covers over them as they nodded off, taking care to blow out the candles as Lois fell asleep against his chest. Clark took a moment to admire the woman in his arms before letting his eyes close. Eventually they’d have to face reality. But for know, they had this moment, and Clark would never forget it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! My exam term has just started so while I probably won't be physically writing much, I have enough written to keep on updating.
> 
> In personal terms, I submitted my final year research project that counts for a 3rd of my degree and have five exams to sit so wish me luck!


	22. Chapter Twenty-Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Graduation.

Clark was up early the day of his graduation. The final days leading up to his departure had passed quickly, and he had spent every last moment he could with his loved ones. He watched the sun rise over the farm, bathing the land in shades of orange, not knowing when he’d next see the magic of a sunrise over Kansas farmland.

 

He had things to do before graduation. Besides doing his farm chores one last time, Clark wanted to go see Lex. Lois had promised to take care of any questions that Chloe had about his sudden departure, but Lex still needed to be dealt with. Clark knew that his departure would shock much of the town, but Lex was the only Smallville resident with the money and the power to make Clark’s life and his family’s life hell; Especially with his already fuelled curiosity about the mystery of Clark Kent. 

 

“Nothing quite like it, is there?” Jonathan asked, clapping his hand on his son’s shoulder. “Are you ready?”

 

“To graduate high school or to start my training?”

 

“Either. Both.”

 

Clark shrugged. “I guess. It’s just, when I was little, I’d watch the sun rise with you and I thought that the farm was the whole world and now…”

 

“I’ve always thought that you were meant for more than a farmer’s life, Clark.” Jonathan responded softly. “Your mother and I were always so careful with you, so cautious, and I’m afraid that we taught you to fear life instead of embrace it.”

 

“Dad, you did the best you could. There isn’t exactly a manual on how to raise an alien child.”

 

Jonathan chortled. “No, there isn’t. But I’m proud of you, Son. I may not trust Jor-El, but you’re right. He’s the best one to help you with your abilities and he’s the only one who can teach you about your heritage. Just promise me that wherever you go, whatever you do, that you’ll never forget Smallville.”

 

“Don’t worry, Dad.” Clark smiled gently, pulling his father into a hug. “I won’t.”

 

~~~

 

“You know, I was in shock when security told me that Clark Kent was at the front gate.” Lex stood as Clark entered the library. “I thought you’d be getting ready for graduation right about now.”

 

“Well,” Clark shrugged. “It doesn’t take me that long to get ready and when I left the house, Lois was still in the shower.”

 

Lex smirked. “So what can I do for you, Clark?”

 

Clark’s brow furrowed. “Why do you think I’m here for something?”

 

“Let’s not cut around corners, shall we? The only times you’ve come here recently have been because you’ve needed something from me.”

 

“You had me investigated, Lex, how can—” Clark took a deep breath and calmed himself before he spoke again. He wasn’t here to rehash their failed friendship. “I’m not here to talk about that. I just thought that I’d let you know that I’m leaving after graduation.”

 

Lex’s interest was immediately peaked. “Leaving? Where to?”

 

“I recently found out about my birth parents.” Clark started. That was a lie, but it was as close to the truth as Clark was willing to get. “I’ve seen their will and well, I want to find out more about them so I’m going away. I’m going to visit a friend of my birth parents and learn about them.”

 

“I see.” Lex replied cooly. “How long will you be gone?”

 

“I’m not sure. They left me some money for college and the will mentioned that some of it was to be used to travel, you know, to gain cultural experience. My birth father was a scientist and he valued learning, but my birth mother was an anthropologist of sorts and she wanted me to have an understanding of the world.”

 

Clark watched Lex carefully, glad to see that while Lex didn’t completely buy the tale, he wasn’t asking any questions. “Well, I wish you luck.” Lex reached across his desk and shook his former friend’s hand. “I have a feeling that I’ll see you again one day.”

 

~~~

 

Lois walked up the steps to the loft, watching as Clark struggled with his tie. Chuckling, she grabbed the material out of his clumsy hands, helping him tie the knot. “You know, all those abilities and you still can’t tie a tie.”

 

He rolled his eyes, grimacing as she pulled the tie tightly against his neck. Clark loosened the knot slightly as she smoothed the collar of his shirt down. “Yeah, well, that’s what I have you for.” His hands rested on her waist as hers hung loosely around his neck. “You look very pretty, by the way.”

 

She blushed slightly. “Well, I didn’t exactly make it to my first high school graduation, thought that I might as well pull out all the stops for this one.”

 

“Lois—“ Clark started.

 

Lois held her hand up. “No sad stuff. Let’s just be happy that we’re finally out of high school and not talk about you leaving until we have too, okay?”

 

He nodded, pulling her close to kiss her gently, taking care not to mess up her make-up.

 

“Clark, Lois!” Martha called. “We need to get going!”

 

“Come on.” Lois punched his shoulder. “Time to get that diploma, Smallville.”

 

Chloe bounded up to them when they arrived at graduation, the Kents going to find seats while Lois and Clark went to line up. Clark laughed as the cousins hugged, Lois indulging her cousin as she squealed.

 

“Can you believe that we’re graduating?” Chloe exclaimed.

 

Lois laughed. “Well, at least I’m here for this graduation.”

 

Lana walked up to the trio, greeting them. “So what are you guys doing after graduation?”

 

Clark glanced at Lois, listening as Chloe rambled on about how she was going to help her dad move to his new job before getting ready to attend Metropolis University.

 

“I’m chasing after my sister in Europe.” Lois admitted. “I leave in a few days, but I’ve put my foot down with my dad and said that I need to be back in time before college starts.”

 

“Yeah,” Chloe grinned. “Lois and I are going to take Met U by storm. We’re not roommates, but at least we’ll be on the same campus.”

 

“What about you, Clark?” Lana asked, tucking her hair behind her ear.

 

Lois growled. Lana and Jason had broken up about a week ago, and since then, Lana had been flirting with Clark. It was as if she couldn’t be without a boyfriend. Clark squeezed her hand, calming her down before answering.

 

“I’m actually going travelling.”

 

“Really?” Lana asked. “For how long?”

 

“Uh, I’m not sure. I found out about my birth parents a little while ago and they left me some money and some things that they wanted me to do, so I owe it to myself to give it a try.”

 

“Wait,” Chloe questioned. “When did you find out about your birth parents? And Lois did you know about this? I mean, Clark, you’re leaving and you don’t know how long for!”

 

Lois and Clark were saved from answering Chloe’s barrage of questions by a teacher, who quickly ushered them into line. Smallville High was a small school, so Clark was in front of Lois, who was in front of Lana. Lana had seemed to sour at the news that Clark was leaving town for who knows how long and remained quiet. Lois squeezed his hand as they shuffled up towards the stage, giving him a weak smile. It had been hard to tell their friends, especially considering that he had put it off until the day before he left, but he couldn’t just leave without a trace. He had to give a reason, no matter how vague.

 

Soon, the principal called Clark up to the stage. He was beaming as his parents cheered him on, chortling slightly as he heard Lois wolf whistle from in line. With a firm handshake, he took his diploma from the principal before walking off stage.

 

“Lois Lane.”

 

Clark returned the favour, wolf whistling as Lois walked up on stage and laughing as she winked at him. She didn’t show it, but she was happy to be on that stage. Lois pretended that it didn’t matter because she had always been pulled out of whatever school she was in before certain events, but Clark knew that she liked having been in one place for a year, as much as she may have grumbled about it in the beginning. Sure she had complained about prom, but Clark knew that she held the cheesy milestones from this year close to her heart.

 

Lois rushed into his arms when she got to the other side of the stage, and Clark held her close, whispering in her ear. “I’m so proud of you.”

 

She blushed, punching his shoulder. “Smallville, all I did was walk across the stage like every other student in our year.”

 

“Still proud of you.” He shrugged.

 

Soon, the ceremony was over and Clark joined his parents while Lois indulged her uncle in photos of her and Chloe, making sure to get some of the father and daughter as well.

 

“We’re so proud of you, Clark.” Martha gushed, pulling her son into a tight embrace. “You’ve grown into such a wonderful young man.”

 

“Mom…” Clark groaned.

 

“Let her fuss, Clark. She’s a mother, it’s what they do.” Jonathan chuckled.

 

Lois came up to them, massaging her cheeks while Chloe took photos with Lana. “I had no idea events like this required so much smiling.”

 

“Ah, come on, Lane.” Clark teased. “You know that you’re enjoying this.”

 

“Oh, Clark, Lois, let me get a photo of you two.” Martha ordered.

 

Grumbling, Lois reluctantly obliged, Clark slinging her arm around her waist as she leaned slightly against him. They fought to keep from blinking as Martha rapidly took several photos, gushing over how good they looked and how proud of them she was.

 

“Come on, Mrs. K, let me get a photo of you three.”

 

Clark stood in the middle of his parents as Lois took the pictures. She smiled at the family portrait. When she first came to Smallville, she had thought the Kent family was almost Rockwellian. But after having lived with them, she had learned that it was just a family full of love. They had their disagreements, but at the end of the day, they loved each other and they expressed it without censure.

 

“I know what’s going to be the Kent family Christmas card this year.” Chloe joked as she came up to them.

 

“Oh, Chloe,” Clark asked. “Can you take a photo of the four of us.”

 

Chloe eagerly took the camera while Lois protested, struggling against Clark’s grip as he held her firmly at his side.

 

“But family photos!” Lois protested.

 

“You’re family too, Lois.” Jonathan spoke, silencing Lois’ protests.

 

Lois hid her shock well as Clark kissed her cheek before smiling with the rest of them, Chloe laughing as she snapped photos of them.

 

“I took a couple, so hopefully some of them turn out well.” Chloe said

 

“So, what are you plans for celebrating?” Clark asked.

 

“Oh, my dad’s taking me into Metropolis for dinner. You both are welcome to come along if you want to. We can talk more about your plans, Clark.”

 

Clark fought a grimace. “Thanks for the offer, Chloe, but we were just going to have a quiet dinner at the house, maybe barbecue something.”

 

“You know Smallville,” Lois teased. “If we took him to a nice restaurant he’d end up spilling a waiter’s tray or something.”

 

“Thanks, Lo.” Clark replied sarcastically. “Glad to see you think so highly of me.”

 

“Ah, you know I love you.”

 

“I love you too.” He bent down to press a chaste kiss to her lips, nuzzling his nose against hers.

 

Chloe smiled tensely at their display of affection. “Alright, I’m going to get out of here before the sweetness gives me cavities, but I’ll see you guys around.”

 

“We’ll see you around, Chloe.” Lois replied.

 

“Come on,” Clark said, guiding her by her waist towards where his parents were standing. “Let’s get back to the house.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter left! I'll post it on Monday and then I'll post the first chapter of the sequel on Friday!


	23. Chapter Twenty-Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark leaves.

Lois sat with Martha in the kitchen, putting together a salad while Jonathon and Clark were out at the barbecue. She watched the easy camaraderie between father and son, admiring the ease with which they communicated. Martha smiled as she watched Lois stare out the window, pulling the fries out of the oven.

 

“He always was his father’s son.” Martha chuckled. Lois turned to look at the redhead, head tilted. “Don’t get me wrong, Clark was a momma’s boy. His first word in English was, in fact, ‘momma,’ and like every son, I know he’d do anything for me.

 

“But he’s always taken after Jonathan. They’re both so similar, so stubborn and protective of everyone they love. And I know that Clark has taken a lot of his father’s moral lessons to heart.”

 

“Clark could have a worse role model.”

 

“Clark always wanted to be just like Jonathan when he was a kid, he was his hero.” Martha tittered, getting lost in her own memories. “One day, Clark came down the stairs in the exact same clothing as Jonathan, determined that he was going to help his father out around the farm despite being only five. That was the day that Jonathan taught him how to drive the tractor.”

 

Lois grinned. “That must have been adorable.”

 

“It was. Of course, I couldn’t properly see that at the time. I was so worried that Clark would get hurt—we didn’t know how special he was yet—but they both insisted that he’d be fine.” Martha slowly lost herself to her memories before Lois spoke, breaking her out of her reverie. 

 

“I, uh, I got a scholarship to Met U this time around.” She admitted shyly. “I wasn’t going to go for it because it’s for journalism and that’s kinda Chloe area, but Clark insisted that I could do it.”

 

“There’s something about the confidence of a Kent man in your corner, isn’t there?”

 

Lois nodded. “It definitely gave me the push I need. I told Clark and he’s so happy for me but—“

 

“You haven’t told Chloe yet?”

 

“No. I just, I’m afraid she’ll think that I’m taking things from her, you know? Journalism was always her dream and now I’m here pursuing it. And then with Clark leaving and me clearly knowing more about it then she does, I’m afraid she’ll think I’ve stolen her place in Clark’s life.”

 

“Lois, can I give you some motherly advice?”

 

“Please.”

 

“Pursue what you’re passionate about and do what’s right for you. I spent so long worry about what other people would think of me and my decisions that I almost lost the love of my life. If you love journalism, go after it. And for the record, I think you’ll make a great journalist.”

 

“Thank you, Mrs. Kent.” The young woman stood up, giving Martha a quick hug.

 

“Don’t worry about Chloe’s reaction.” Martha rubbed Lois’ back, knowing that some things just required a mother’s touch. “You wouldn’t have gotten that scholarship if you weren’t a good writer and Clark just never saw Chloe that way. She’s been a good friend, but you’ve been good for my son, Lois. And that’s why he’s trusted you with his whole self.

 

“A person who let’s silly things like that and is so insecure in themselves that they can’t appreciate the happiness and achievements of others, isn’t a person you want in your life, family or not. Do what’s right for you, Lois, and the rest will fall into place.”

 

“You’re right.” Lois accepted. “I’ll just have to wait and see.”

 

“But how are you holding up, Lois?” Martha questioned. “With Clark leaving?”

 

“I could ask you the same thing.”

 

“I asked first.”

 

Lois smirked. “Well, it’s hard. We don’t know how long he’ll be gone and he wants me to move on, doesn’t want me to wait for him, but I just, I’ve never felt like this before, Mrs. Kent, and I’m not sure if I ever will again.”

 

“Well, you always have Jonathan and I if you need us. And things have a way of working out just the way that they’re supposed to, don’t you worry. Now come on, let’s go join our men.”

 

~~~

 

After an evening of reminiscing and good food, the elder Kents begged off, vowing that they’d wake up before dawn to send Clark off. Lois snuggled against Clark on the couch in the loft, staring out at the sky towards where his family had once lived.

 

“What did you and my mom talk about?” He asked.

 

“My journalism scholarship mostly.” She lied, not wanting to upset him so close to his departure. “She told me a few stories of you growing up too.”

 

Clark chuckled. “You’ve practically got enough to write the Clark Kent biography now. You know all about me, Lois Lane. I’ve never had that before besides my parents.”

 

“Well, you know all about me too, Clark Kent, and I’ve never had that either.” She replied. “What were you and your dad talking about?”

 

“He was just reminding me of some things.”

 

“What things?”

 

“We don’t know what Jor-El plans for me and he just wanted to make sure that I don’t lose myself. He’s always believed that just because we have the right to do something, or in my case the ability to do something, doesn’t mean that it’s right. People now a days spend so much time asking if they have the right to do something, that they don’t ask if it’s the right thing to do.”

 

“I like that.” She nodded, taking note of the advice to use it herself in the future. Journalists always fought to find the truth, but a line needed to be defined between what was needed to be written and what was wrong. “Your dad’s a wise man.”

 

“He also told me that even though I’m doing the right thing by not asking you to wait for me, that I should hold onto what I feel for you. My love for you and my parents, it keeps me connected to humanity and I need that love in order to properly help mankind.”

 

Lois stiffened. She had never thought about it that way. Clark wasn’t human and he had admitted to her that often his instinct and thought diverged from humans and that he had trouble understanding humans. For someone with as much humanity as him, he really struggled to understand human logic, his Kryptonian side often over-riding his upbringing. She turned, planting her lips firmly onto his and moving to straddle his waist.

 

“L-Lois?” Clark questioned, hands gripping her thighs. “What are you doing?”

 

“Giving you humanity.”

 

Clark quickly surrendered to her caresses, succumbing to their passion and becoming a moaning, thriving tangle of limbs. Clothing was quickly shed, Clark turning them over so that he was on top as they continued kissing, tongues fighting. The couch was small and awkward as her fingers dug into his back, his erection pressing against her.

 

“Clark, I need you.” She moaned, breathing heavily against his neck.

 

“I need you too.”

 

He slipped inside her for the first time that night, settling into a slow rhythm as they writhed against each other, both wanting to cherish the moment, unsure when they would see each other again. They made love until the sky began to lighten, collapsing, exhausted, onto the couch after their last orgasms. Lois’ head rested on Clark’s chest, the pair slick with sweat.

 

“We should get dressed. We’re dropping you off at the caves soon.”

 

He sighed as they got up, trudging down the stairs of the loft after they dressed to join a stoic Jonathan and a teary Martha in the truck. The ride to the caves was silent, the mood solemn as they prepared to say goodbye to Clark for an indeterminate amount of time. They walked into the caves, Lois looking at the cave paintings in a new light, now aware of how they told of the destiny of a man she held so dear.

 

Clark pressed his hand into the stone, Lois watching in awe as a secret chamber was revealed, a bright light shining into the cave and illuminating the four occupants.

 

“Wow.” Lois breathed, causing Clark to chuckle.

 

He hugged his parents, Jonathan patting him on the back and Martha squeezing him tightly. “I’ll write if I can or call, I don’t know what he plans, but if I can contact you, I will.” Clark promised.

 

“Just stay safe, Son.” Jonathan ordered.

 

“I’ll make you proud, Dad.”

 

“Clark,” Jonathan choked, “you already have.”

 

Martha dabbed at her eyes as Clark turned his attention to Lois. He kissed her sweetly and held her close, memorising the feel of her against him. “I love you.” He murmured. “I think that I always will.”

 

The dam that was holding back her tears broke and Lois sobbed into his shirt as the sun began to rise. “I love you, Clark.”

 

There was nothing else that they could say, no words that would make his parting any easier. So with a heavy heart, Clark gave Lois one last kiss before turning to leave, waving to them goodbye as he stepped into the chamber, the wall closing up behind him.

 

Lois walked slowly back to the truck with Jonathan and Martha, the sunrise seemingly dimmer than normal. Martha squeezed her shoulder, giving her a comforting look.

 

“He’ll be back someday.” She prophesied. “He has too much to accomplish.”

 

“One day.” Lois reiterated.

 

Lois knew that she couldn’t wait for him. Clark would be enraged if he finished his training and she was stuck in one place, both romantically and professionally.He wanted her to live her life, uncertain of how long he would be gone. So she would, starting with Met U. She’d succeed and she make her name known at the university and then in the journalism world. And if someone caught her eye, she would give them a chance. But glancing at the sun, the very thing that gave Clark power, as she sat sandwiched in between his loving adopted parents, she knew that Clark had left a very high bar for comparison and that any one who followed would be compared to him.

 

She’d give the world a chance, even though it was already dimmer without him in it, but she made no promises about finding another fish in the sea.

 

~~~

 

“My son.” Jor-El spoke as Clark entered the chamber. “Are you ready to commence your journey?”

 

“Yes, Father.” He spoke, imbuing his voice with a confidence that he didn’t feel.

 

“Grab onto the crystal, Kal-El, we will speak again shortly.”

 

Clark grabbed onto the crystal and was immediately caught in a swirling light. He landed in a snowy tundra, the crystal gripped tightly in his hand. Confused, he looked around, then at the crystal. He shrugged before lobbing it into the distance, watching in amazement as a large crystal structure rose out of the snow. Clark paused and took a deep breath. This was it. With Lois and his parents in the back of his mind, Clark marched towards the crystal fortress.

 

It was time to face his destiny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND THAT'S THE END! (Well, not really because there is a sequel that will be posted Friday).
> 
> I also kinda sorta left some cues for where I'm going with characters in the last chapter but I mean, surprises are surprises so that's staying a secret until Friday.
> 
> Let me know what you think!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys really enjoy this works! I had a lot of fun writing this and it's basically what I imagine the series would have been like if Clark and Lois had been forced to be in close quarters earlier in the series, because we al saw what happened when they first started working at the Planet together.


End file.
